


Tale of Two Minutes

by TheSmuttyBard



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: AU, BDSM themes, Denial, F/F, Kara does yoga and massage, Lena is in the family business, Lionel Luthor's not that bad, Slow Burn, Slow Burn Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, possibly addictive, someone has a playroom, third time's a charm posting this, trigger warning: there's a little het sex, you're going to hate the Danvers parents in this one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-03
Updated: 2019-12-02
Packaged: 2020-11-22 23:09:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 59
Words: 111,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20882204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSmuttyBard/pseuds/TheSmuttyBard
Summary: AU Lena and AU Kara meet in a conference room.One of them has some kinks;the other has some kinks to work out.The rest is all Supercorp.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Is third time a charm posting this? I hope so. I love comments (apologies, in advance, if I don't reply) and kudos, so bring them on.

World dark, save for the glow of her alarm clock, Lena’s first sight of morning was an upside-down, arched view of her headboard.

_Inhale,_ she commanded herself.

The vice-tight clench stemming at the base of her neck arced everything between her feet and her head off the mattress. Slick sweat coated her—seeping into the sheets and dripping into the valley between her breasts.

The sound of her own breath competed against the racing of her heart in her ears. She stayed frozen at first, ears testing the silence for anything too still, or not still enough, until her primal brain felt assured the room was clear.

Exhale.

She was safe. Just like she had been every morning for decades.

Lena’s next inhale tested her assumption that there was nothing to smell other than fresh sheets, filtered air, and the slight musk of her own sweat.

Only hers.

She was alone, and the air was clean.

Exhale.

Head flat on her pillow now, Lena opened her eyes and looked at the ceiling.

Her ceiling.

She let her eyes travel down to look at the wall.

Her wall.

The alarm clock came into view next.

Her alarm clock.

Date: September 18th.

Time: 4:17 a.m.

Inhale.

She felt the soggy stick of drenched sheets cradling her from beneath. It still surprised her to this day how much a person could sweat in their sleep. How much _she_ sweat in her sleep.

Exhale.

Body no longer paralyzed, Lena brought a finger up to test how much perspiration had pooled over her sternum. The valley of skin between her breasts was a slippery swamp.

Inhale.

Lena threw her covers off, ready for the cool air that washed over her, immediately getting to work on drying out the sweat. Sometimes she was amazed at how quickly she dried if she didn’t get up.

Exhale.

Her heart rate was coming down, the volume of it fading in her ears and becoming more of a simple thump in her chest.

Inhale.

God, she was exhausted. The worst part about waking up each morning was that she was always more tired than when she went to bed. It didn’t make sense, yet it happened daily.

Each morning, surges of adrenaline zapped her awake and she had a few minutes of hyper-awareness before she crashed into an exhaustion that doubled as a sleep-walking insomnia.

Unless she got up and took her damn pill.

Exhale.

Lena wished she could toss out the pills and never fill the prescription again. She was the CEO of the company who made the damn things, so she knew what they did to a person. Lawsuits showed her the autopsy results of people who had needed them just like she did.

But if she wanted to ditch the drugs, she needed to start getting more than a few hours of sleep per night.

Inhale.

The adrenaline was fading, exhaustion setting in.

Exhale.

After a lifetime of waking up the same way, it should be getting easier. In a way, it was. Lena had her routine down as far as not freaking out about it, but there were things she couldn’t control. The sweat, for one … her heart rate and breathing …. the fast drop into exhaustion.

All she wanted to do was sleep like a normal person. No crazy memories resurrecting in dreams and tricking her body into believing she was facing monsters that had long since been banished from her life.

Inhale.

She was safe. She was rich. She wanted for nothing and knew how to take care of herself.

Exhale.

It was time to get up.

All the way up.

Inhale.

_You are a grown-ass adult, not some child in a crate. Get your ass up and start acting like it._

An exhale and a side-roll later, Lena was up—naked as the day she was born and trudging to the shower.

It was time to get ready for a bright, new day.


	2. Chapter 2

The view looking out from L-Corp’s 34th-floor conference room was killer. Even upside-down.

Kara had never seen the coast from this particular perspective before. It was kind of inspiring to see the top-down view of the geometric modern city abutting the primal fluidity of the ocean.

If she hadn’t had a small audience watching her every move, Kara could have stared at the view all day.

Pulling her eyes away from the window, she returned her focus back in the high-rise boardroom. Her business partner, Jimmy, lay on his back below her, with his legs pointing up to the ceiling with her balanced on the flats of his feet.

Kara transitioned into Bow pose, making a show of how easy and relaxing it was to let herself hang suspended in the air, with only Jimmy’s feet to hold her up.

Ms. Luthor, the woman Kara was here to impress, seemed less than inspired. She hadn’t looked up from her phone longer than necessary to catch a glance.

“As you can see,” Kara said as professionally as she could in an upside-down back arc, “Jimmy is quickly able to find my center, allowing fluid transitions into new positions.”

She and Jimmy had been kicking butt together as a team for four years. L-Corp had been one of their health-and-wellness corporate accounts for two of those years. Each Friday, they closed their main gym and taught yoga-as-relaxation classes and gave chair massages.

Over the past couple of months, some employees had started to ask for more yoga options. So Kara was pitching more variety to the big boss herself: Lena Artemis Luthor—adopted daughter to Lionel and Lillian Luthor, and sister to Lex Luthor.

Lex had been the CEO of L-Corp a few years earlier, but was now on the lam somewhere avoiding criminal charges for insider trading.

The tabloids had gotten a whole lot quieter since he’d fled the country. Lex had been the Bruce Wayne type—a billionaire who showed up everywhere with enough women on his arms to start a game of Red Rover.

His sister was much more low key. The only gossip about her focused on her spot-on fashion sense and her sexuality. Pretty much the whole world knew Lena Luthor was a gold-star lesbian, although she’d never really been confirmed as dating anyone.

Not that Kara paid attention to that.

The woman’s sexuality was her own business, but Kara agreed with everyone else that she had to be dating someone. She was way too hot to be single.

Like … criminally hot. Especially in person.

Kara had only seen her in photos before today, but none of those pictures had prepared her for the intensity of being in the same room with the woman. Kara had never wanted to impress someone so much in her life, but so far she couldn’t get Ms. Luthor to look up from her phone.

She had to improvise.

“Team-building exercises are built right into AcroYoga, making it great for enhancing relationships at work.”

Below her, Jimmy’s full lips sent her an encouraging smile that doubled as a plea to return to the script they’d rehearsed.

_Keep it simple,_ his chocolate eyes seemed to say. _Show. Don’t tell._

It was good advice.

Improvising rarely worked out well for Kara. She usually said things better the second time around, which made for bad first impressions. She needed to stop rambling now before she said something stupid she couldn’t take back.

“Plus, it’s relaxing,” Kara riffed, ignoring her own advice. “For me, it’s like going to the gym and a spa at the same time.”

She couldn’t stop rambling. Not without a proper gag, it would seem.

Ms. Luthor did not look up from her phone. “You find balancing on men’s sweaty feet relaxing?”

“Oddly enough, it feels comfortably warm after a while.”

Below her, Jimmy grimaced his teeth and shook his head, mouthing, _Stay. On. Script._

“I see,” Lena said, seeming genuinely intrigued. “And does the smell also start to feel homey after a while?”

Off to the side of the room, Kara saw her sister try not to laugh, and fail.

The traitor.

Alex and her girlfriend, Maggie, both worked at L-Corp and had come to the meeting as moral support. But by this point, they were more like thermostats in the room, displaying the degree to which Kara was bombing.

And if Kara didn’t have their subtle cues to tip her off, Lena Luthor’s words were her next clue.

“I think AcroYoga is a great offering for your main studio, Miss Danvers,” she said. “But I don’t think I want my corporate professionals balancing on each other’s feet on company property.”

Unwilling to succumb to the woman’s first wave of skepticism, Kara jumped into education mode. “The term is ‘flying,’ and it’s great! Jimmy is usually my base. Sometimes we switch spots, but he’s just so big that we can only do basic tricks when I’m basing.”

Lena typed on her screen, eyes not leaving her phone. “I’m going to send that quote right to the HR department to see how they feel your Acro classes are going to go.”

Off to the side of the demonstration, Alex laughed nervously. “I think what she meant to say is—”

“Oh, I know what she meant to say,” Lena said, slipping her phone into her purse and looking up. “But I also heard what she said. And I think we both know we can’t have her looking like that and talking like that at the same time. People are going to get dropped on their heads. It’s not safe.”

Kara sent a panicked looked to Jimmy who seemed to have reconciled to their defeat rather quickly. She could see it in his eyes. This audition was over in his mind.

There would be no AcroYoga classes at L-Corp.

Man, Kara had really been looking forward to that. 

“Two minutes are up,” Lena said. “Thank you for taking the time to demonstrate this possible addition to L-Corp’s company culture, but it’s going to be a no from me.”

Kara felt her Bow pose deflate a bit. She wasn’t one to take no for an answer, but she heard the finality in Lena’s voice.

The woman would not be changing her mind.

Kara had failed.

Jimmy seemed to notice Kara wilting and made eye contact. “Ready to come down?”

Kara nodded, smile gone, and released her feet so they would be ready to touch back down to the ground.

No more flying for her.

“I need to go,” Lena said as Kara touched down. “Miss Danvers, may I speak with you privately by the elevator? I have a tangential question for you.”

Kara straightened slowly, ready for the headrush that always followed turning right side up again but trying to act normal through it. “Yeah. Of course. Sure.”

Had she read the signals wrong? Was there still hope for Acro classes?

Still mid-headrush, Kara started to walk toward the door, taking a drunk curve on the way that prompted Lena to step forward in case someone needed to catch her. “Whoa. Need a second?”

“She’s just dizzy from being upside-down,” Alex answered for Kara. “Give her, like, ten seconds and she’ll be back to her blonde self.”

“Of course,” Ms. Luthor said. “I’ll wait by the elevators.”

Then the raven-haired woman exited the room, leaving Kara with her friends.

Maggie and Alex immediately moved in closer while Jimmy got to his feet.

“Tangential?” Kara repeated, looking at her sister on instinct. “What does that mean?”

“The word?” Jimmy asked.

Kara shook her head. “I know what the word means in a dictionary. But what does it mean when Lena Luthor says it?”

“No idea,” Alex replied.

“Must be non-work,” Maggie said. “I don’t think Ms. Luthor considers anything related to business as a tangent.”

Alex nodded. “Good point.”

“Do you think I still have a shot with the AcroYoga?” Kara asked.

“Definitely not,” Maggie said.

Alex nodded. “Agreed. That was a solid no.”

“Maybe she wants a massage?” Jimmy guessed, moving into the circle.

They all shared a look at that.

“Makes sense,” Maggie said. “Maybe you’ll get some extra business out of this visit after all.”

Alex shooed her toward the door. “Go find out. You could use a high-roller client.”

Vertigo largely gone, Kara made it to the door looking passably sober. “Okay. Wish me luck.”

“_Luck!_” they all whisper-yelled after her as she opened the door.

Exiting the conference room, Kara spotted Lena alone by the elevators—the woman’s eyes once again locked on the screen of her phone.

Lena Luthor was clearly an addict. Not the kind of addict people went into rehab for, but in the workaholic way of the pathologically rich. Kara would bet anything this hot, young, successful CEO drank coffee like water and had the anxiety of a cat working in a spring factory. She had to be swimming in cortisol—probably with dopamine and adrenaline mixed in. 

That triple-threat cocktail was more American than apple pie, and a fast track to dying of heart problems or any number of other ailments.

And Lena Luthor didn’t deserve that.

The young CEO was kicking butt and taking names on behalf of women everywhere. She shouldn’t have to die young for it.

Kara’s chin came up a notch, her steps growing more confident.

It was time to save a life … or, at least, save the quality and longevity of life for one kick-ass woman in the corporate world. Silent cries for help like the ones emanating from Ms. Luthor were why Kara went into yoga and massage in the first place.

No one was happy if their body wasn’t happy, and exhaustion was all but carved into the woman.

Kara knew what to do about that. She had magic hands. Everyone said so. It made total sense that the best hands in the city be on deck to keep one of the most powerful women in tip-top shape.

Kara took a breath, willing her mouth to say smart things as she bee-lined it to the elevators.

“You’ve got this,” she whispered when she was halfway there. “Don’t let her go without an appointment.”

Ms. Luthor glanced up as Kara approached, her magnetic eyes giving Kara an indecipherable once-over as she dropped the phone back into her handbag.

“Thanks for speaking with me privately,” she said, voice unreadable as Kara stopped next to her.

“Of course,” Kara said, mentally identifying her next available appointments.

Something told her that Lena would be an after-hours kind of customer. Kara had been trying to move away from that, but for every rule, there was an exception. And Kara would definitely make an exception for Lena Luthor.

“Do you know why I want to talk to you?”

“Because you need a massage,” Kara said with confidence.

One perfect brow popped up. “Not exactly.”

“It wasn’t a question,” Kara said, not sure where her bravado came from. “You need one. And I should be the one to give it to you. You won’t regret it. I’m very good.”

“Well, I’m afraid your skills are wasted on me. I don’t like being touched,” Lena said, no give in her voice. No exceptions.

She didn’t want Kara touching her? That didn't compute.

Kara’s head tilted in confusion. “Not even massages?”

“Especially massages.”

That sucked. Physical contact was one of the best parts of life. “Well, I feel confident saying you only feel that way because you haven’t tried me. No one uses their hands quite like I do.”

Lena smiled at that. “It’s amazing how unaware you are of how you sound when you talk to people.”

“I, er, sorry?”

“Don’t get me wrong. I like it,” Lena said, eyes locking on Kara’s and seeming to search for something behind them. “I could never get away with it myself, and I always respect people who can get away with more than I can.” Her eyes searched Kara for a beat, as if looking for her answer in advance. “That being said, I want to make you an inadvisable offer.”

“I … uh, hmm. Okay.”

“It may make you uncomfortable,” she added. “So if you want to pass on hearing it, I’ll understand.”

“And if I say yes?”

Lena smiled and looked … jealous? Nervous? Why couldn’t Kara place the look? She was so bad at reading people.

“You don’t sound very certain,” Lena said after a moment.

“I’m rarely certain when it comes to the unknown.”

She seemed to consider that, then nodded. “Touché. Okay, I’ll bite. This is my offer." Pale jade eyes locked on Kara’s, watching her closely. "I think we might be good together. Sexually. I don’t date or do typical relationships, but I love sex and would love to experience it with you. If you’re interested.”

The words felt like a semi truck passing six inches from Kara’s face at full speed, literally rocking her back on her heels as their meaning registered in her mind. “Wow. That’s very…”

“I find you captivating,” she continued, pulling a business card out of her bag. “I would love to explore that with you. This is my number. I understand if you don’t call, but I’m hoping you will. There will be no funny business our first meet up. I’ll invite you over for dinner and introduce you to what I’m thinking—discussion only, no contact—and you can decide from there.”

Everything computed without computing, making the real-time conversation move at a pace Kara couldn’t keep up with.

Sex?

Lena Luthor asked to speak with her privately because … sex?

Talk about a curveball.

How did that work without touching?

Or did it?

Kara was confused … for a number of reasons.

The elevator door opened and Ms. Luthor stepped in, looking ready to leave without another word. But Kara definitely needed more words so she slapped her hand against the elevator door, holding it open.

“W-wait.”

The CEO across from her personified propriety, standing innocently in her respectable business suit as if she hadn’t just put getting naked together on the table. “Yes?”

“I … don’t know how to tell you this, but…”

Ms. Luthor’s perfect face remained unreadable. “Yes?”

“I … well, okay,” Kara stammered. “I mean, it’s just … I’ve never … been with a woman before.”

Lena’s head tilted with what looked to be intrigue. “That’s not a problem for me if it’s not a problem for you.”

“It isn’t?”

“No. Unless you’re not interested in females. Then I apologize for misreading signals.”

Oh, man. Alex was going to freak when she heard about this. Ms. Luthor must have gotten the two of them confused.

“My sister is the one who is gay…”

“Yes,” Ms. Luthor said, a model of dispassionate patience as Kara held the elevator doors open between them. “I’m aware. She’s also my employee, which is problematic. You are a contractor. You never have to see me again and have your contract at L-Corp for as long as my employees cite you as a perk of our corporate culture. My offer is for our personal time only. If you’re interested.”

“I…”

Whoa. Kara had never lost the ability to speak quite so thoroughly before—her eyes dropping to assess the other woman in ways she never would have dared thirty seconds earlier.

That skin. Those lips. The graceful slope of her neck. And, man, what Kara wouldn’t give for her own cleavage to look like that.

Lena Luthor had to look amazing naked. There really wasn’t a way around that possibility. And the way the woman held eye contact? Holy cow … so much eye contact. All laced with a confident knowing of someone who could deliver on her promises.

“I … wouldn’t say I’m _not_ interested…” Kara finally managed.

“Okay. But are you _interested_?”

“I…”

The elevator buzzed its objection for being stalled for so long. One disapproving look from Ms. Luthor to where Kara’s hand still held it open had Kara removing it so the door could shut.

Ms. Luthor then motioned toward the business card. “No pressure. Call me if you want to talk about it.”

“I…”

“Again my apologies if you find this too forward. But at least I’m getting out of your hair as my next move, right?” The CEO smiled. “I’m glad we met, Kara. Have a good night.”

Then the elevator doors closed, with suspiciously good timing, and she was gone.

“Holy cannoli,” Kara breathed, staring at the elevator doors where a gorgeous face had just been … a face Kara never in a million years would have thought could be interested in her.

And given how well Kara could remember the bow of the other woman’s lips and the sharp wit behind those brilliant eyes, she had to ask herself:

Was she interested?


	3. Chapter 3

It took Kara a moment to remember where she was—L-Corp, 34th floor, staring at an elevator—and that three people in a conference room waiting for her to come back with a report.

She couldn’t tell them about the proposition. Ms. Luthor hadn’t said anything about not saying anything about it, but … no. It felt too weird—too new—to throw something like this into the ring for everyone to weigh-in on. This was personal.

So when Kara walked back to the office and they all rushed to asked what had happened, she just smiled and flashed the business card.

“No way!” Alex cheered. “You did it?”

Kara laughed, hoping the sound passed as cocky. “You doubted me?”

“No,” Alex backtracked. “I mean, I knew you could.”

“Of course, we knew,” Maggie agreed, moving to Alex’s side in solidarity, their hands slipping together and fingers tangling on instinct.

“When’s your appointment?” Jimmy asked.

“I’m supposed to call and schedule one,” Kara said.

It was the truth. Not the whole truth, but it an accurate answer to the question.

“That’s amazing,” Jimmy said, offering her a fist bump.

Kara smiled one of her more plastic smiles as she gave his massive fist a light tap with her own. “She made it seem like evenings would work best for her.” Also true. “I might have to trade out a class with you to say yes to the time she picks. Is that cool?”

“Of course,” Jimmy said, shouldering his pack with the yoga mat. “Just let me know. I’m sure we can work it out.”

“Perfect,” Kara said, hoping that the twisting in her stomach passed for excitement by the time it reached the smile on her face.

“Well, Maggie and I have to get back on the clock,” Alex said, gesturing toward the exit.

“Of course,” Kara said, starting back toward the elevators with them this time. “Thanks for the moral support.”

“You didn’t need it,” Alex said, as they exited the conference room.

“I always need it—plus, the coaching I’m sure you’ll be giving me later on tonight on how not to screw up the same way next time.”

“Now _that _you need,” her sister laughed before pointing to the business card. “Let me know when phase two happens with my boss. I’m totally curious.”

“Will do,” Kara said, transforming her nerves into enthusiasm as they all headed to the elevator together and headed down.

Alex and Maggie got off on the twelfth floor with a flurry of goodbyes that made the elevator feel even quieter when the doors shut again to finish the ride down to the parking garage.

For once, Kara didn’t fill the silence with rambling. She wasn’t good at lying and, if she spoke to Jimmy now, she’d spill everything. Time would tell if she actually made an appointment with Lena Luthor … about sex, but she already knew what Jimmy would say on the matter.

No. Way.

She totally got why. Her own mind was still spinning a bit at being propositioned by someone so insanely out of her league. And part of her was already second-guessing whether it happened at all. Either way, Kara felt reasonably sure she could shift the mood to something more platonic and professional if she made an appointment with the woman.

Kara could help Lena Luthor—legitimately help her—and her mind was already locked onto the task, pulling up recollections of her posture and sitting positions in the few minutes they’d shared the same space. Ms. Luthor appeared to have several pain points on the right side of her body that she compensated for in her movements and stances.

Kara could fix that.

She just had to convince the CEO of that, which meant she needed a better pitch than what she’d thrown out for AcroYoga. Somehow she needed to turn what Ms. Luthor was proposing from sex with no touching to touching with no sex.

That shouldn’t be that hard.

Right?

“You look pretty thoughtful,” Jimmy said, drawing her attention as they walked to his SUV. She’d gone from the top floor of a skyscraper, down the elevator, and walked into the parking garage without saying a word to him.

She hadn’t known that was possible.

Jimmy sent her a curious look. “Everything okay?”

“Totally,” Kara said, maybe too quickly … maybe too brightly. “Just thinking.”

“About Lena Luthor?” Jimmy ventured.

There was no point in denying it. “Yeah. I want my next pitch with her to go better.”

“Pitch?” he said, pulling out his keys. “Let your hands do the talking. You’re booked out four weeks with massages for a reason, Kara. The one thing you definitely don’t have to worry about is not being good enough when it comes to that. You’re excellent.” He winked. “And that’s coming from the competition.”

“And partner,” she amended.

“Your _competing_ partner.”

“Fine,” she laughed. “Competing partner it is. But I’m glad I’m better at massage because you’re way better at personal training than me.”

“We all have our strengths,” he said as they reached the SUV and loaded up.

They drove in silence, radio playing to mask the lull in conversation as they both seemed to move into their own thoughts. On most days, such a silence would stress Kara out. She’d get twitchy to fill it and end up saying something odd or inappropriate to spark conversation back to life.

But not today. Today, she understood what Jimmy was talking about when he said that sometimes his brain needed to process before his mouth could talk.

She totally got it now. Because it was such a relief not to be saying anything she was thinking out loud.

Such. A. Relief.

She should do this more often.

“What are you thinking?” Jimmy asked from the driver’s seat.

“How you’ve been right all this time.”

His dark eyebrows shot up, full lips smirking. “Yeah? About what?”

“About that guy-zone you talk about, where you just zone out and process stuff without talking about it.”

Jimmy smiled. “Oh, yeah. That’s a good zone. You there now?”

She nodded, and that seemed to be that. They went back to quiet and Jimmy didn’t say anything until they got back to the studio and pulled into the parking lot.

“Need anything from the back?” he asked. “Or can we unpack after class?”

“After class is fine.”

Kara’s mind went into auto-pilot after that, finishing out her day like she was watching herself on TV more than actively participating.

Three massages and one yoga class later, Kara was home, tossing a pre-made dinner into the microwave. Only then did her hand find the business card in her pocket again, pulling it out.

What could be the harm in sitting down for a dinner with the woman?

Badass chicks should know each other, right?

Not that Kara technically considered herself a badass. Yes, she had her own business. And yes, she was good at her job, but she tended to smile too much and dance to too much Top 40 music for the word ‘badass’ to apply.

Kara knew she intimidated exactly no one, which was why Jimmy typically handled negotiations for their business. When people tried to pull fast-and-loose moves on Kara, she tended to smile and sign on the dotted line.

Jimmy was more of a baller.

And if things were really serious, they’d bring Alex in to oversee. Alex could be tough as nails. She was the badass of the family, which meant—by Kara’s logic—that Alex should be the one meeting with Lena.

But whatever. Lena—she could only think of her as Lena now, for some reason—had asked her. Kara. 

One of the world's most captivating enigmas wanted to have dinner with her. How could she say no to that?

And while Kara knew she would turn down anything sexual with the CEO, she could think of a whole lot of _yes_es she could give Lena when it came to massage.

Just because Lena was a lesbian didn’t mean touching had to be sexy. And the woman could definitely use a little touching.

Kara stared at nothing, talking herself into then back out of calling a woman she only knew through magazines—getting excited at the business possibilities while knowing it would all have to start with a sex pitch she knew would leave her a bit tongue-tied.

Yet, tongue-tied or not, no matter how many times Kara tried to talk herself out of calling the number on Lena’s card, she always came back to the fact that she knew she could help the badass CEO.

And she wanted to.

So she called … watching her thumb punch out the number like a spectator, rather than a participant. Her actions still felt like a dream as she listened to the phone ring on the other side. Things didn’t start feeling real until a voice picked up on the other side.

“Lena Luthor speaking.”

Holy shit. What had she done?

“Lena?” Kara replied in shock.

“Kara?”

Damn. She’d never heard anyone say her name like that in her life and it threw her off a little bit.

Kara cleared her throat. “I … whoa, hi! I, um, thought I would get an after-hours secretary or something. Not you.”

“I told you it was my number,” Lena said. “I hand out a different card if I want people to go to my secretary.”

“Oh.” Man, she needed to work on her phone skills.

“To what do I owe the pleasure of your call, Miss Danvers?”

“I…” Had Lena forgotten? She didn’t seem like a person who forgot things—especially things like this.

Kara could have sworn she heard Lena chuckle before adding, “I’m hoping you called because you would like to have dinner this week.”

“Yes,” Kara said in a relieved rush. Lena _hadn’t_ forgotten, which made Kara feel less stupid. “Yes, that’s why I’m calling. I’d love to meet with you. And, if you don’t mind, I’ll bring a proposition of my own as a backup to whatever you might be thinking. Ever since we met, I just keep thinking about all the parts of you that could really use some attention, and I’d love to work on you, Ms. Luthor.”

“I see,” Lena said, her tone completely unreadable. It drove Kara a little crazy. “I am out of town tomorrow. Does Thursday at 8:00 work for you, Ms. Danvers?”

_Ms. Danvers?_ No one called her that. Literally, no one. “That should be fine.”

“Very good,” Lena said. “I’ll send a car to pick you up at 7:40. Does that work for you?”

“At my work or at my place?”

“Your choice,” Lena replied. “They both seem to be equidistant from my residence.”

“Oh,” Kara stalled. “You know where I live?”

“You are publicly listed.”

She was? That didn’t sound entirely safe. “Huh. I should probably fix that.”

“You probably should,” Lena agreed, no condescension in her tone. Which was nice. When you fumbled through life as much as Kara did, people tended to talk down quickly.

“Okay,” Kara said through a smile. “How about my place then?”

“A car will be waiting at 7:40 pm on Thursday,” Lena said, her tone completely professional.

Kara’s reply was a little less so as she let out a breathy, “Okay,” that would have definitely earned her a raised eyebrow from Alex if she’d been in the room.

But, whatever.

It wasn’t like that.

Kara was just nervous. She was about to have dinner with the most powerful woman she knew and might end up with her as a client. That’s why she was weirdly out of breath.

“Goodbye, Ms. Danvers.”

Ugh. Being called that made Kara feel forty. She was going to have to put a stop to that real quick.

“See you soon,” Kara replied instead, and they both hung up.

Kara was having dinner with Lena Luthor.

In forty-eight hours.

For. Ty. Eight. Hours.

Gah! What was she going to wear?

By the time Kara remembered her microwaved meal, it was already cold—vegetables limp and sitting in their own chilled sweat. It was less than appetizing and didn’t chew well, but Kara didn’t believe in waste. So she ate it … all the while thinking that she would definitely be eating something better on Thursday.

And that was something to look forward to.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus post today because: PREMIERE!!!
> 
> Also, check out TouristSeason's glow up of my cover below. Love it!!! Thank you :)

All in all, it had been a good trip across the pond for Lena. Her meetings had played out on schedule with no surprises.

Lena liked no surprises. Especially when she was exhausted and in a foreign country. Predictability was always good under those circumstances.

It might be past eleven at night London time, but it was still business hours back home. That meant Lena needed to find it in her to respond to the emails waiting before doing her best to crash out in the jet for however long she could on the ride home.

She was counting the moments to calling it a day, eyes already drifting closed, as her driver approached her jet.

“Ms. Luthor?” Henry said from the front, his voice pulling her eyes open.

“Yes?”

“The jet crew isn’t answering their phones and it looks like we have an unexpected reception party.” He finished his update with a nod toward the hangar housing her jet, which currently had around a dozen men and four strategically placed SUVs blocking the entrance.

“What the fuck?” she muttered, trying to think of any reason she should be seeing what she was seeing, and drawing a blank.

“That’s what I was thinking,” Henry replied. “It’s safe to assume the crew has been separated from their phones. That’s a best-case scenario. Do you want me to turn around?”

Lena noted the four SUVs were faced out, doors left ajar. Whoever these guys were, they’d put thought into a chase—but probably not intelligent thought. More like half-assed thoughts relying on strength in numbers, based on the formation she was looking at. It looked more like a scene from a movie than an actual ambush.

These guys wanted to look scary without knowing what scary really looked like, which made them a whole different level of dangerous. The irrational, unpredictable kind.

And they were blocking the way to Lena’s jet.

Great.

But she’d trained for this. Endless chess games and lessons with masters of combat hadn’t been part of her curriculum growing up for nothing. This wasn’t the first time this she’d crossed paths with a power play, and it wouldn’t be the last.

And the first rule of being a Luthor? You didn’t run from a challenge—especially when contracted employees were in danger.

“No,” she replied. “Pull up per usual, but stay in the vehicle. Take pictures and upload them into the alert system. Follow protocol.”

“Yes, Ms. Luthor.”

“Also, request a full investigation into where security failed us here. I want a full report tomorrow.”

“Yes, Ms. Luthor.”

Henry kept his usual speed as he approached the hangar, slowing and stopping as if they were the only ones there. Lena continued his unflinching momentum, getting out the moment the car stopped.

Thirteen raised guns greeted her—one of those guns originating from the top of the jet stairs, indicating these men had definitely gotten to the crew. Lena glanced quickly over the scene, noting all the barrels were trained on her torso with fingers on triggers, ready to shoot.

“I’m unarmed,” she said, stepping out of the car. “You can put the weapons down and talk to me like gentlemen.”

No one moved.

The man standing at the apex of the semi-circle was the one who replied. “We’ll put the guns down when we get what we came for.”

She looked the man over carefully, no recognition pinging in her eidetic mind. “I’ve never seen you before in my life. What do you imagine I’m going to give you?”

“Your brother owes me money.”

Seriously? That’s what this was about? Thirteen guns in her face because Lex was playing fast and loose? What an asshole.

“So go talk to my brother.”

“He’s hiding from me,” the man said like it was all her fault.

“So you armed twelve men and ambushed his sister on a tarmac?” Lena replied, letting her disdain show. “What the fuck is wrong with you? And why is my brother dealing with stupid people?”

A couple of the guys glanced at each other at that, which was good for her. It didn’t get any of the guns out of her face, but she’d take that window of opportunity.

“That’s a serious question, by the way,” she said. “What put my brother in debt to you?”

“None of your business.”

She gestured around to his henchmen. “I think we can all agree that you’re kind of making it my business.”

“Your business,” he sneered, gun arm tensing, “is getting me paid.”

“No,” Lena replied. “It’s not. Not by a single stretch of any imagination but your own.”

“_You_ control the family money,” he said like he’d had that genius revelation after a few too many beers. He wasn’t drunk now, but he was a drinker. She’d bet on it.

“No,” she replied. “I control business operations, not family accounts.”

“Well, you have money.”

“Presumably you do, too,” Lena shot back, walking forward. “But you don’t see me showing up out of nowhere and asking you to pay off someone else’s debt, do you?”

“He’s _your_ brother.”

“And you’re an idiot.” She turned her attention to the rest of the men. “I’m assuming you all are, based on the fact that you apparently have no idea what happens if you harm me.”

Blank faces. All of them.

“You die,” she informed them.

She took turns looking them in the eyes as she spoke, wanting to make sure her words landed.

“Your families die. They go quick and easy, you don’t. And you go last.”

She watched the micro-flinches from the men as she spoke and knew they were hearing the information for the first time.

“It’s not something I can stop,” she explained. “It’s not even something my family put into place. As you can imagine, there are other families on my income tier who are very interested in maintaining a certain level of respect-through-strength. And if you all weren’t the smallest potatoes on the farm, you would have heard something about how utterly fucked you are by a stratosphere of people you’ve never met if you touch me. So, if you pull a trigger right now, you’d better mean it. Because my driver has already sent all your faces to the database as my last known contacts.”

The main guy let out one of those fake ha-ha laughs. “You think you scare me?”

God, she hated this part. It was always such a gamble. But one thing had not changed since she’d arrived, and that was the fact that the only way out of the situation was through this wall of over-armed dudes.

So she did the only thing she could and went all-in.

“Yes. And if I don’t, I should.”

The man took several steps forward, seeming to think he’d get a different answer by pressing the cold tip of his gun to her forehead. “I want my money.”

She kept her chin up and her eyes like ice. “You know how to _not_ get it? Keep doing what you’re doing. I die, you die, we all die. No one gets paid.”

She waited until his blinks showed her he’d processed the information.

“If you really want your money,” she continued, “go tell my brother what you’ve done. He’ll get you paid, and then you’ll never see him again. Ever. But you’ll have your money, and no one will die. That sounds like a better plan to me.”

“Like I said,” the man sneered, pushing the barrel into her forehead hard enough to rock her back on her heels. “He’s hiding from me.”

God, she wanted to take him down. But that was emotion talking. Impulse. Lena needed to stick to the path that tempted the least amount of trigger-fingers.

“Well, he’s probably looking at a picture of you right now, sent by my driver,” she said as if she didn’t have a gun in her face. “I think you’ll be hearing from him soon.”

She kept looking the asshole in the eye, but her awareness never left the tension of his finger on the trigger. If he decided to pull it, she wasn’t going to just stand there and take the bullet. She’d go down with a fight and hope that the rest of the men were sufficiently deterred from taking a shot themselves.

They had to see how shooting the person who did not owe them money could not play out well for them.

Right?

Lena hoped so. That would mean she still had a chance if all this escalated.

In the meantime, she used her words.

“Now get the fuck off my tarmac and go find the man who owes you.”

The asshole wanted to pull the trigger. Lena could see it in the varying tension of his trigger finger as his eyes seemed to waffle between wanting to look tough and wanting to be smart.

It wasn’t until she heard another voice say, “Dude, let’s go,” that Lena let herself believe she might actually be off the hook.

Another guy stepped up, holding out a phone. “She wasn’t lying, man. It’s Lex.”

Thank God.

“Will you please take your gun out of my face now?” she said.

Man, he wanted to shoot her. Probably just to shut up a woman who dared talk to him like that in front of his men. But they wouldn’t be his men for long. Those who didn’t leave after this would almost certainly run for the hills after Lex finished with this guy.

Some people were not cut out to be leaders.

“If you’ve hurt my flight crew in any way,” she called after him, “if they have so much as a bruise, you will be hearing from me.”

“They’re fine,” the guy spat. “We just took their phones.”

“Give them back.”

He rolled his eyes, brought his gun hand down and reached for the phone being held out to him.

“Whatever,” he sneered at her as he took it. Then he called over his shoulder, “Give everyone their phones back and let’s clear out. We got what we came for.”

Then he picked up the call, saying “Hello” as he walked away without so much as a backward glance Lena’s direction.

Yep. There went a guy who was going to go far in life … probably on a one-way ticket.

Lena couldn’t care less what happened to him. At the moment, she had only one focus: making sure her crew was okay.

It was hard not to run, but she forced herself into her usual stride as she made her way to the steps and up them. Both the pilot and the flight attendant greeted her the moment she stepped inside.

“Ms. Luthor,” the captain said, face a bit gaunt. “Welcome aboard.”

“Thank you, Captain Simmons,” she replied. “Is everyone okay?”

“Yes. They caught us off guard,” he said, expression apologetic. “Our weapons were stashed and they never got close enough for us to act hand-to-hand.”

All her flight staff were combat-trained and there wasn’t a coward among them, so Lena had no doubt he was telling the truth. “Don’t worry about it. They caught me off guard, too.”

“You handled it better than we did, though,” he replied.

She sent him a wink and tried for a smile. “That’s why I get the big bucks.”

His laugh was about as tired as the joke, so she tried to move back into some version of normal as quickly as possible.

“Could you do me a favor?” she asked.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Unload the entirety of the cargo area. Let’s make sure we’re not carrying anything we’re not supposed to be carrying. Also, re-check the ballast weights. Let’s make sure nothing has changed in your pre-flight calculations before we take off.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, stepping outside the jet before pausing and looking back.

As Captain Simmons moved down the steps, the flight attendant gestured for Lena to take a seat.

“Welcome aboard, ma’am,” she said, face pale and voice a little shaky, but otherwise the model of professionalism she always was.

“Thank you, Miri,” Lena said. “Could you bring a pre-flight wine? And feel free to pour yourself a glass. Anyone else, too. I think we’ve all earned it.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Miri said and Lena started down the aisle. “And ma’am?”

Lena stopped and turned. “Yes, Miri?”

“I’m really glad you’re okay.”

Lena sent her a tired smile. “Thank you. You, too.”

As Miri left to go get the wine, Lena allowed herself an unladylike flop into her seat. Adrenaline swirled with fatigue as she took a breath and let her eyes drift shut for a moment as she moved through her relaxation techniques.

Inhale.

The smell of eucalyptus from the diffuser signaled she was in her jet.

Exhale.

Captain Simmons was doing a full security check at the moment. So unless the jet blew up before he came back or something, she was safe.

Inhale.

Her heart gave a few quick kicks, remembering the press of cool steel still into her forehead … like a phantom sensation reminding her things could have ended differently. Very differently.

Lena would probably have to take a pill to get some sleep. Otherwise, she’d spend the whole flight staring at the ceiling like an insomniac. And she was too tired for that. Way too tired.

“Miri?” she called out.

“Yes, Ms. Luthor?”

“A Valium, too, please?”

“Yes, Ms. Luthor.”

It was a risk taking Valium around staff. She always woke up more disoriented whenever a drug was involved. They knew that. It was part of their training to handle her. Lena just preferred that they didn’t.

But today was apparently the day where she’d have to suck up her pride and get over it. It wasn’t like she’d be the first person in the world to have a panic attack in front of her employees.

“Ma’am?” Miri’s voice said from right next to her, and Lena opened her eyes to see wine in a glass and a pill in a small paper cup.

She took both. “Thank you.”

“Anything else, ma’am?” she asked.

Lena shook her head. “No. I’m going to try to sleep on the way back.”

“I don’t know how you could after that,” Miri replied.

Neither did Lena, honestly.

She downed the pill with a swallow of wine, not really tasting the fine vintage but appreciating the familiarity of it.

A moment later, she heard movement and saw Henry boarding with her personal items. When she gestured for her attaché case, he walked to her.

“Thank you,” she said, taking it. She had some people to email but she knew better than to put anything in writing while her mind was likely to go into shock as it processed what had just happened. Any work communication would have to wait until she was on the other side of some sleep.

“Anything else you need, Ms. Luthor?” he asked.

She shook her head. “I’ll be sleeping on the flight.” Or trying. “Feel free to do the same.”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

Then Lena leaned back and rested her eyes, waiting for the pill to get to work.

She fucking hated pills. But, per usual, they were a mandatory evil if she had a shot at functioning in this crazy world. 


	5. Chapter 5

_5:15 a.m._

Mornings always started the same for Kara—the glow of her sunrise alarm clock brightening up the room and giving her five minutes to get her act together before a much more obnoxious alarm clock shrilled across the room.

Kara hated that sound, which was her incentive to get up before it went off.

After that, her morning routine was all about speed. Quick shower, yoga clothes, breakfast in a shaker bottle, with makeup packed to-go. Then she was out the door by 5:40 to arrive at the studio by 5:50 to set up for class and get started right at 6:00.

She was lucky Jimmy opened everything up at 5:00 for his own clients, leaving the doors open for any of Kara’s who had a need to be more than ten minutes early for a class at the ass-crack of dawn.

Morning people, like Jimmy.

Insane people.

Jimmy got up at 4:00 every day, while Kara pulled off getting up at 5:15 twice a week. She was definitely the slacker of the two of them, but the trade-off was that she got most of the night classes and was the one who got to lock up every night.

And tonight, she would be locking the door right at 7:00. Then she would be racing home to get changed for her … appointment? Was that the right word for having a sit-down dinner with someone who was definitely going to make a sexual proposition at some point?

If Kara planned on agreeing to the proposition, it all might feel like a date. But she wasn’t, and Lena had specifically said she didn’t date, so Kara wasn’t sure what to call it in her head … only that she was definitely calling it an appointment if Jimmy or Alex brought it up.

She still needed to figure out what to wear. Nothing that signaled romantic interest or a date-y vibe, but also not work clothes. Yet she needed clothes that didn’t get in the way, in case Lena wanted a demonstration of her skills.

Most of Kara’s wardrobe options in that vein were something she’d worn to work at least once.

Part of her wanted to go shopping, but that would make the night feel like a date. Kara had clothes. Lots of them—too many, according to some.

She didn’t need to go shopping.

Besides, she didn’t even know what she’d get if she went. Something nice? Something casual? Something with a little flare?

What did a person wear while meeting up with a super-rich person who wanted to propose something that had the whiff of involving some sort of sex dungeon in the basement?

Kara still needed to figure out her pivot from that into her own pitch about all the health benefits she could bring into Lena’s life with regular massages. Lena’s proposition would get her foot in the door, and she’d walk out with a new A-list client.

Boom.

It was like her dad said: Where there was a will, there was a way.

Or was that a scripture?

She wasn’t sure. She’d heard it both over the pulpit and over the dinner table about the same amount of times.

Either way, Kara was about to make things happen.

Feeling good about her approach, Kara glanced at the clock.

5:44?

That couldn’t be right.

She blinked and looked again.

“Shit,” she breathed before grabbing her keys and running out the door.


	6. Chapter 6

Thursday was Drug day for Lena.

Taking the family business into Big Pharma had been Lex’s brainchild.

Lena had voted against going into the drug business. But her vote hadn’t counted for much considering her brother—their parents’ only biological child—wanted in. So when the vote had been held to acquire a company, the rest of the Board had voted with Lex and Lena had been the lone dissenter.

Now she was stuck running the beast, along with everything else under the Luthor corporate umbrella.

Lex taking over L-Corp had always been the plan. Lena was on the Board of Trustees and weighed in at monthly meetings, but outside of that, she’d pursued her own full-time ventures. Or she had until her brother’s weakness for side deals had landed him in legal hot water that had him resigning and running away to an island with no extradition.

Because that was how Lena’s brother dealt with his problems. Out of sight, out of mind. If they couldn’t touch him, they were someone else’s problem.

Not to throw their mom under the bus, but Lillian had coddled her do-no-wrong, precious baby boy into a full-grown monster with next to no sense of responsibility.

At least, that was Lena’s opinion on the matter.

Most of the world disagreed with her and photographers loved him. They probably wouldn’t if they looked down the barrels of thirteen guns for him with no apology or explanation.

Seriously. How fucking hard was it to offer a simple apology and acknowledge you fucked up in a way that almost got someone else killed? However hard that was was too hard for her brother.

Meanwhile, Lena was stuck in a conference room making sure her brother’s favorite cash cow kept producing. It was fucked up. She wanted to sell the whole thing to show Lex that there were actual consequences to irresponsibility, and not to leave his dreams in other people’s hands.

They might change on him.

But their dad had said no.

Lena was officially not allowed to dismantle anything Lex built. Boo. She was to keep it afloat until he got back, while letting Lex’s day-to-day management follow their mandate of having progress bow to profits to earn bonuses bigger than their annual salaries.

It went against everything Lena believed in. Yet for the past three years, she’d been the captain-of-record over Lex’s bottom-line-bowing money farms.

It was soul-killing. And after two hours sleep on the jet, followed by a rough awakening, Lena really wasn’t in the mood to deal with it.

Not today.

She looked around the table at all the people trying to convince her of something she had long since stopped listening to. They wanted her to sign off on something, but she would be signing off on nothing today. She’d just had a gun shoved in her face last night and was now functioning on a stimulant.

She shouldn’t even be at work.

Her brother wouldn’t be.

If Lex were in her place in that exact moment, he wouldn’t be paying attention to the sales charts and doctored proposal graphics any more than she was. He’d just tell everyone to go earn themselves a bonus and call it a day so he could get laid.

At thoughts of getting laid, Lena’s mind jumped to the blonde.

Dear God, Kara Danvers made activewear look good. For a moment after Kara had walked into the conference room on Tuesday, Lena had considered hiring her as a model for a future product shoot before confessing to herself she wanted more.

Lena didn’t want Kara Danvers in a product ad; she wanted Kara Danvers.

Period.

Full stop.

Back on Tuesday, she’d wanted nothing more than to pull the blonde into the elevator and break her no-touching rule. It had been a long time since someone made Lena feel so impulsive. It had just been something about the way the blonde had bounded into the conference room, excited to pitch a terrible idea she imagined would make corporate life better.

The woman had clearly never worked in an office or been involved in any type of lawsuit before. If so, she would have pitched something else.

But, no. Kara Danvers had pitched the idea of potentially dropping every employee at L-Corp on their heads during business hours, then been blindsided when the answer had been no.

Lena hadn’t known that there was that much innocence left in the world, not to mention in a single person … who was also miraculously single.

How the fuck was that possible? Girls like Kara Danvers were the flames moths flocked to.

The warm glow of Kara’s persona had to be pulling people in like gravity all the time. If Lena had been sucked in at a glance with her iceberg of a heart, how could normal people not be falling into Kara’s orbit daily?

So how was she single? And why? Because there was no way Lena was the only one fantasizing about the blonde in that moment.

What was Kara’s deal? And why had she never been with a woman before? The blonde stared at breasts like a third-grader trying to read a clock. There was nothing subtle about it.

Yet she had never been with a woman…

That was interesting. As was everything else about the woman. Captivating, really.

That smile of hers … so bright and willfully naïve.

Her body … a temple to health and vitality.

Her skin … so fucking clear and smooth.

Lena had never wanted to see someone’s O-face more in her life.

She was doing her best to scowl thoughtfully to such thoughts when the sound of discussion around her stopped and eyes look her way.

Lena turned her ears back on, glancing up at the main presenter standing in front of a PowerPoint slide that said: END SLIDESHOW.

That didn’t help. And everyone was looking at her.

Something snapped in Lena as she admitted to herself that she just didn’t have it in her to care enough for everyone in the room that day. Her brain was only capable of thinking of two things: gun barrels and a certain blonde.

It was time to call it a day.

“Sounds good,” she said, gathering up her notepad as she channeled her brother. “Stay on the ball, and I see bonuses in your future.”

Then she got up walked out. Just like that. Just like her brother would have.

She was still reeling from what she’d just done when she spotted Naomi leaning against the wall, working on a tablet.

What was she doing on this floor?

“Oh, good,” Naomi said as soon as she saw Lena. “You’re out early. Your dad will be pleased.”

“My dad?” Lena said, moving to her. “He called?”

Had he tried calling her, too? Lena started to fish her phone out of her bag.

“Messaged,” Naomi replied. “A family friend visited him about what went down last night and he sent me a message before the friend left.”

Right then, Lena spotted a text from an unknown number. Three short lines: _Love you. Glad you__’re safe. Listen to Naomi._

“He wants you to take the rest of the day off to go golfing,” Naomi said.

Lena looked up from the screen to see if she was joking. “Golfing?”

Naomi nodded.

“I hate golf.”

“I know,” Naomi said. “But your dad was quite adamant that you get your golf game up so that you and Lex can talk when he comes back.”

That got Lena’s full attention. “He mentioned Lex coming back?”

Naomi nodded. “Yes. Possibly by Christmas.”

If that happened, it would be a Christmas miracle.

Naomi wasn’t done. “Also, the initial report from Heathrow is now available. You can view it en route to the course. It will tell you what officials know on the matter. But the official word from your dad is that the guys you met last night did something that got your brother’s charges cleared. If true, lawyers should be unwinding their claims over the next several weeks. Lex will be back shortly thereafter.”

Lena fought not to roll her eyes.

What a joke.

But if it happened, it happened. And her dad was right. The only way to hold Lex’s attention for longer than sixty seconds was to get him out on a golf course. And if Lena sucked when they got out there, Lex would be too busy taunting her to hear a thing she said.

Fuck.

She had to go golfing.

Apparently, Christmas miracles came with a price.

“Fine,” Lena sighed. “When do I go?”

“Now,” Naomi said, gesturing to the elevator. “Change of clothes is in the car and Henry is waiting.”

Great. Just great.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love kudos and hearing your thoughts. 😍


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to apologize for all the plot in this story on behalf of all of you who just want to cut to the chase. But I think the plot is worth it in the end.
> 
> Hope you agree! ;)

_Whack._

_Whack!_

The first impact was Lena’s, her stroke sending her ball sailing high and a bit to the left. A decent hit—not great—touching down about the 145-mark.

The stroke following hers came from the guy next to her on the driving range, his ball touching down just past the 260-yard mark.

And that was one of the many reasons Lena hated golf: men were just flat-out better. All things being equal, women could not compete. Period.

That pissed her off.

Granted, her current neighbor was definitely way above average on distance. For all she knew, he was a pro. But a man with any amount of skill could easily out-distance Lena’s shots by 50 to 90 yards. Anytime she played, men had to spot her a handicap to not make her lose by miles.

And Lena still lost.

She fucking hated losing. Especially in front of business associates.

Lex trolled her with golf for that exact reason. He looked better than her whenever they played, and they both knew it. Lena could beat Lex in so many ways when it came to their sibling rivalry, but Lex always had golf in his back pocket. And he wasn’t afraid to use it when he wanted to drive her nuts.

Lena rolled out another ball, forgetting form and unleashing an angry swing. 130 yards. She was getting worse.

Awesome.

Next to her, Mr. Might-Be-Professional checked his texts. At least, that’s what it looked like he was doing before he started looking between her and his phone.

When she sent him a questioning look, he didn’t shy away.

“I thought I recognized you.” He wiggled his phone in his hand. “You’re the woman from Heathrow last night.”

This guy had the pictures? That explained why he played like a pro without being one.

“That was me,” she admitted.

“I go through Heathrow a lot,” he said. “So any breach is of interest to me.”

“Well, last night was a fucking breach,” she muttered, not quite ready to look at the reports yet. She could have done it on the drive over, but she hadn’t wanted to destroy what little focus she had left.

She’d look at the report on the way back.

“Three security personnel have been detained and relieved of duty,” he said, setting up a new ball.

Three people fired? That sounded like a start.

The guy took a few steps to cover the distance between them.

“I’m Jack Spheer,” he said, holding out his hand for a shake.

“Lena Luthor,” she said, gripping his hand and giving it a single, firm shake.

“Of Luthor Pharma?” he asked, looking surprised.

“One of my family’s many ventures, yes,” Lena said with a plastic smile. “And Spheer? The shipping dynasty?”

The guy nodded, resting into his club like a cane and taking a second look at her. “Yep. You support my competition.”

“I think we have our fathers to thank for that.”

He nodded. “From what I hear, they never really hit it off.”

“I heard the same thing,” Lena said, remembering some of the adjectives her dad had used to describe Fredrick Spheer—none of them favorable.

“Not like we’re hitting it off right now,” Jack added, his voice dangerously close to flirtatious. “But can I ask what brings you to the driving range today? Shouldn’t you be home with smelling salts, recovering from having thirteen guns shoved in your face last night?”

He knew the number. He really did pay attention.

“I would,” Lena played along. “But I have mandatory marching orders that I not suck at golf in the near future.”

“Ah, the demands of duty,” he sighed as if he knew them well. And based on what Lena had heard of his father, he probably did.

“How about you?” she said, playing along with his small talk. “What brings you to the golfing range? Shouldn’t you be off building a ship the size of Rhode Island somewhere?”

“Yes. That’s why I am here, actually,” he replied, rolling out another ball. “Anytime the price tag on an asset gets over a billion, I like to check my head out on the range to make sure I’m not racing into anything that might take me to the bottom of the ocean with it.”

“Smart.”

“Yeah,” he said, taking another swing that sent the ball straight and long. “I find ideas test out really well on golf strokes. Your brain will show you if your flow is off, even if you think you’re seeing everything.”

Lena hadn’t considered that. “You think so?”

Jack nodded. “Plus, you can get a sense of other players by watching their game.”

She couldn’t tell if he was hitting on her or not, only that this guy fancied himself a golf whisperer. “Interesting.”

“It is, actually,” he said, letting his next shot fly before turning to her again. “For example, if my sister was here, she’d use her many certifications in New Age hocus pocus to tell me that your swing reveals that you have a male in your life currently holding you back, and some mommy issues that limit your trust in partnerships. She would advise me against fraternizing with you, and tell me to shut up right now and mind my own business.”

No, he wasn’t flirting. He was checking her out. There was a difference.

She played along. “So much for female solidarity and girl power.”

He laughed. “Please. We both know no one’s on no one’s side in our little world. Everyone’s just looking out for Number One as best as they can.”

“That’s the truth,” Lena muttered.

“Yet here we are,” he mused, looking around at the acres of grass covered in hundreds of tiny, white balls. “Fraternizing.”

Lena sized him up. “Obviously you’re the rebel of the family.”

“Obviously,” he agreed. “And right now I’m thinking how surprising it is—considering who we both are—that we’ve never met. How come matchmakers haven’t peddled you my way?”

“Haven’t you heard?” Lena said, lining up a new shot. “I swing for the ladies.”

_Whack._

Her ball sailed decently straight and high.

“Oh, I’d heard,” Jack said as they watched the ball land short of 140. “But since when does being gay ever matter when it comes to parents like ours?”

“My parents understand I won’t be marrying a man,” Lena said, once again grateful that her adopted mom didn’t really consider her a real daughter. “If I was a blood-Luthor there might be more pressure to follow tradition and keep that blood flowing. But I’m adopted so there’s no blood lost. Lex is the legacy.”

“Still, there’s a lot to be gained from marrying well,” Jack said, wiggling his eyebrows. “Money … influence…”

“Things I don’t need to get from a man,” Lena pointed out.

That got a solid laugh out of him. “Ah, man. Now I’m almost mad I can’t be in an arranged marriage with you. I have a sense we could be brutal together.”

“Well, then, maybe fate really did have a plan when it made me gay,” she countered.

“Perhaps,” he mused before getting back to his swing.

When he left it at that, Lena set up a new ball, noting that Jack watched her next swing closely.

“They have coaches here to help with your swing,” he said in his off-the-cuff way. “I’d recommend Jim.”

It was not a random suggestion. Jack was genuinely trying to help, which wasn’t an offer Lena saw all that often from the boys’ club.

Interesting.

“Jim,” she repeated. “I’ll look him up.”

Jack nodded like that was a good idea. “You’ve got this clench in your right hip, and a hitch in your left shoulder. He can coach you out of that and get you some other good habits.”

“Thanks for the tip,” she said, meaning it.

Jack shrugged as if he was doing himself the favor, not her. “Well, if we’re going to work together in the future, I need your game to be a little more on point when we take clients to the course. Everyone knows a woman can’t hit as far, but everyone respects precision and technique.”

She sent her signature bitch look. “Oh, so we’re working together now, are we?”

“Not yet,” he said, his tone a little flirty again. “But I’ve got a feeling about you.”

“If it’s centered in your pants, I’m not interested.”

He laughed. “My dick is always interested in awesome, but no. That’s not the feeling I’m getting from you. You’re a sniper and I’m a clown. I’m sensing a possible synergy in there somewhere.”

Lena looked up from focusing on her ball. “That’s a terrifying combination.”

“I know, right?” he said with a face that appeared all too innocent. “I’m pretty sure the two of us could accomplish almost anything together.”

Oddly enough, so did she. And that realization was just as weird as her crush on the local yoga girl.

Superstition said things came in threes, and Lena had met three very memorable blondes in three days.

One made her heart go pitter-pat; one made her heart race by pressing a gun to her face; and this last one might very well have the gift of making Lex lose his shit on a golf course.

Interesting how life played out when you gave it time.

They both moved back into practicing after that, Jack lasting about five more minutes before starting to pack up.

“You leaving me?” Lena asked as he removed his glove.

“Yeah. I’m done,” he replied. “Time to go sign a $4 billion purchase order. Can I buy you a drink to celebrate my new fleet?”

Lena bit back a groan and sent him an arched glance. “I’m still gay, Jack.”

“I know,” he said, packing his clubs into his cart. “But somewhere in the middle of our conversation, I realized you don’t make me want to shoot myself in the face. I don’t meet people like that very often, so I’d like to buy you a drink. Then I can see if this was all a fluke or if you’re a person who genuinely doesn’t suck.”

“You want to see if clowns and snipers really can get along?”

“I’ve heard tales of such alliances,” he replied with a playfulness that was growing on her. “I always thought they were myths. Want to put the myth to the test?”

“When you put it like that, how can I say no?”

He smiled a smile most would probably call dashing, but all Lena could see was the restless man underneath the theatrics.

“I’ve got a few calls to make,” he said. “Meet me at the bar in fifteen? I’ll introduce you to Jim.”

She nodded. “See you at the bar in fifteen.”

“Great,” Jack said, moving toward his cart. “It’s a non-date.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I'm adding 2 chapters today because I really need our ladies back in the same room for the weekend. So here we go!

Standing in front of Lena’s Luthor’s front door at 7:57 p.m., Kara was certain of one thing: she’d worn the wrong outfit.

She’d gone back and forth in front of her mirror at home and ended up going with a Lululemon vibe for a dressed-up fitness look.

And she’d chosen incorrectly.

Kara had never been more ashamed of a pair of brand new Nikes in her life.

The Luthor Estate was like its own suburb with only one house. And the house—well, mansion, really—was like Mount Olympus come down to a grassy valley with a vineyard. The grounds were endlessly green and manicured, and the house looked like it had just passed through a premium car wash—and that was the _outside_.

What was the inside going to look like?

Kara’s dad was always going on and on about how wasteful and vain people like the Luthor family were … how they worshipped money, not God.

If this mansion was evidence in his case against them, then he kind of had a point.

It was so much house for one person.

Or did more than one person live here? Did Lena have roommates?

Kara was guessing not, but she decided to keep an open mind. The only thing she knew for certain at this point was that Lena definitely had full-time groundskeepers—multiple. Perhaps, even an army. And they weren’t second-rate.

With one last critical look at her shoes as Lena’s driver drove away behind her, Kara took a deep breath for courage gave the giant knocker a few drops against the door.

_How long does it take for someone to get to the door in a house this big?_ she thought, looking at her watch to time it just as the door opened in front of her.

She looked back up, smiling in reflex and not realizing she expected to see Lena until she came face-to-face with another woman. Older. European-looking … kind of in the snobby way that didn’t even try to hide her assessment of Kara’s outfit before smiling like it was her job and motioning for Kara to come in.

“Ms. Luthor will be right down. Please, come in.”

“Thanks,” Kara said, looking past the woman and nearly missing her step as she got her first look at the house.

Was this where the word “magnificent” came from? When something was massive yet elegant at the same time? Like a cathedral or capitol building? Marble floors, arching doors, and curving steps … it all made Kara think of debutants being announced as they glided down spiral stairs like they were balancing books on their heads.

The place was crazy huge and quiet as a library. No music, no sounds of movement on the hard floors. Kara could literally hear herself breathe.

“Thank you, Melly,” Lena’s voice said from the top of the stairs, and Kara jumped.

Where had she come from?

Kara had _literally _just been looking up there, and there had been no one. Two seconds later, there Lena was, looking like some vampire who had been standing there the whole time.

And, hot damn, Kara had definitely worn the wrong outfit.

Did Lena Luthor ever _not_ look camera-ready for a fashion shoot? Kara could have worn a cocktail dress and still looked like she’d found her fashion at Target.

“Yes, ma’am,” the woman replied. “Would you like me to set the first course?”

“In five minutes, please,” Lena said, starting down the stairs. Silently. A pin drop would have echoed like a canon in the silence, but Lena’s heels on the stairs didn’t make a sound.

How did she do that?

“Yes, ma’am,” the woman said, then was gone, the light click of heels marking her departure.

Lena continued down, watching Kara much more closely than Kara knew how to reciprocate.

“I’m glad to see you.” Her voice was like cool water on a sunburn. How did she make it sound like that? Especially when Kara was basically just wearing gym clothes.

“Yeah?” Kara looked down at the offending garments. “I’m feeling a little underdressed.”

“You look great.”

“Uh-huh,” Kara drawled. “I fit right in.”

That got a smile out of Lena. “Well, if you fit in here, I probably wouldn’t be all that interested in you, so I wouldn’t stress about it. You’re perfect just the way you are.”

Okay. That might be one of the cheesiest things Kara had ever heard, but … it worked. She suddenly felt better.

“Yeah?” she replied, trying to roll with the low-key vibe Lena was bringing, despite looking like a magazine cover. “My shoes aren’t going to scuff your marble, or whatever this is?”

“Marble,” Lena confirmed, stepping off the stairs and moving across the … lobby? Foyer? Entry? What did you call it when you could host a party just inside a front door? And why couldn’t Kara stop watching the rhythmic sway of Lena’s hips like a cat tracking a laser pointer.

Damn, the woman knew how to walk. Kara should take some notes.

“Your shoes are fine,” Lena assured her.

“Okay. Good.” Kara’s smile felt too big and her hands suddenly felt like they should be doing something as she waited for Lena to cover the expanse between them. Should Kara be meeting her halfway? Or not be smiling anymore, because it was kind of getting weird. Should she start talking?

Duh. Talking.

“Your home is amazing.”

“Thank you,” Lena said, gesturing for Kara to start walking the same direction Melly had gone. “I like it.”

Kara forgot to speak as they continued into the house. She felt like she was on some private tour in some temple somewhere. Everything she saw looked like a museum piece, and it took a moment to realize that there weren’t any personal items anywhere. No dish for keys, no stack of mail, no family pictures, or anything that signaled someone actually lived here. There was a lot of evidence of other people’s lives and passions everywhere she looked, but nothing that said anything about the woman approaching her.

Except that she was rich.

Kara cleared her throat. “So is this your place?”

“My father’s,” Lena replied with what sounded like a hint of pride. “I’m just its steward at the moment.”

Kara laughed. “Just a steward? That’s like a full-time job just to coordinate everyone to make a place look like this.”

“Well, my staff is very talented. They make it easy.”

“Uh-huh,” Kara said with a trace of skepticism as they stepped into view of an insanely large dining hall with one of those forever-long tables Kara had only seen movies before. On the other side of it, through a massive window, was a view of sculpted shrubs leading to a fountain that seemed to mark the opening to a labyrinth.

Catching sight of it all, Kara gave up on trying to come across as remotely cool.

“Are you kidding me?” she said, stopping in her tracks. “This is your view at dinner?”

“When I eat at home, yes.”

“It’s beautiful!” Kara said, moving closer to the window for a better look.

“Thank you. I think so, too.”

“And it’s just you living here?”

“Yes,” Lena said. “Many of the staff have accommodations on other parts of the property, but I’m the only one who lives in the main house.”

In a house this big? Now that Kara was in it, that felt a little overwhelming. “Doesn’t it get lonely?”

“Well, I’m not home often,” Lena replied, voice still impersonal, like maybe she wasn’t going to bring up sex after all. “Mainly to sleep. And the solitude then is nice.”

So Lena Luthor made a habit of sleeping alone? Kara wasn’t sure why she made a note of that. It wasn’t relevant to anything to do with her.

Best to focus on the manicured excellence of the yard. “You have a knack for making really hard things look easy, Ms. Luthor.”

“Thank you. I appreciate you noticing that.”

“It’s hard not to,” Kara laughed. “I grew up on a farm. I know how long most tasks take, pretty much down to the minute. It’s one of the reasons I grew up without a yard.” She felt a ramble coming on. “I remember when Alex and I got into soccer and our parents said they’d put in grass for us to practice on at home if we took care of it.” Yep. She was definitely rambling. “But after Alex and I did the math on how much time mowing and weeding and aerating and fertilizing and watering a yard would take, we opted to practice at the school.”

“I can see that being the best choice,” Lena replied as if she found all that interesting even though it totally wasn’t. “Luckily for me, I can employ people to maintain this. They get comfortable livelihoods and I get a beautiful yard to my exact specifications. I consider it a win-win.”

Yeah. That was kind of an understatement from where Kara was standing.

“Well, it’s awesome.”

“Would you like to walk around the grounds before dinner?” Lena asked.

Yes. She did. But she also wanted to keep things as professional as she could until they figured out how things Lena was going to play things between them. “Maybe next time?”

“Of course,” Lena said with a faint smile before gesturing to two place settings at the table—one at the head of the table, and another setting one right around the corner from it. “Hungry?”

“Totally,” Kara said. “I don’t know about you, but it’s been a long day.”

Lena nodded. “For me, too. But I’m glad it’s ending with you.”

“Me, too,” Kara said, both meaning it and freaking out a bit.

Looking at Lena, it was obvious they were close to the same age—Lena a little bit older—but their mannerisms couldn’t be more at odds. Everything about Lena was so … still. Refined. Calm. Focused.

Four things Kara definitely was not.

If Kara was awake, part of her was moving. Word from exes was that was the case when she was asleep, too, even though no one had provided evidence to prove it. But there was no denying that outside of bed she was as calm and focused as a squirrel. Kara knew that. It was one of the reasons she had never tried for an office job.

Definitely not her strength.

Kara liked trying new things, working with her body, and helping others. Or at least that’s what she’d put on her Tindr profile during the short time she’d been giving that madness a try.

The internet wasn’t her thing. Kara was more of a face-to-face girl—unless the other face was Lena Luthor, apparently. Kara was having trouble finding her usual flow around her.

“Please,” Lena said, breaking what Kara assumed to be an awkward silence as she gestured to a chair at the giant, stretched table. It could easily seat twenty, but tonight it was set for two.

They’d be sitting next to each other—not on opposite ends, like Beauty and the Beast. That should make talking easier. “Have a seat. I hope that you don’t mind that our meal tonight will be vegan.”

“Not at all,” Kara said, finding her smile again. “I’ve tried to go vegan a couple of times, but I just eat on-the-go too much to pull it off.”

“Understandable,” Lena replied. “It is a difficult lifestyle to maintain in the current market.”

“Yeah,” Kara agreed, sounding a bit like a valley girl to her own ears before moving into the chair that wasn’t at the head of the table. Kara wasn’t the master of this house. Not by a long shot.

“How many classes did you teach today?” Lena asked, moving to the other chair.

“Four,” Kara replied. “Four classes and five massages.”

“Sounds like a full day.”

“It was, but I’m used to it. I actually start getting twitchy on slower days now, so it’s good,” Kara replied, eyeing the place setting in front of her.

Three forks, three spoons, two knives, and a folded napkin.

Kara could count on one hand the number of times she’d dealt with a formal dinner setting, and never once was that while she was under scrutiny. What little she’d learned on those other times wasn’t coming to mind now.

Was the napkin supposed to go in her lap? Kara had learned from movies that it definitely didn’t belong tucked into the front of her shirt like a Red Lobster bib. That looked ridiculous on anyone.

She looked back at Lena, ready to follow her lead on whatever she did with it while asking, “What about you? How was your day?”

“Long,” Lena replied. “But it’s ending well, so I can’t complain.”

Just then, Melly entered the space with a tray holding flat saucers. When Lena unfolded her napkin and draped it on her lap, Kara followed suit.

She might be less cultured than people like Lena, but she caught on fast. It was one of her favorite qualities about herself. She might feel lost frequently, but never for long.

Melly walked around the table, serving the bowl of orange-something to Kara first. “Butternut squash bisque to start, Miss.”

“It’s one of my favorites,” Lena confessed off to Kara’s left. “No one makes it like Melly.”

“It looks delicious,” Kara said.

“Thank you, Miss,” Melly said, placing Lena’s bowl second then disappearing without another word.

“_Bon appétit_,” Lena said, picking up the spoon on the far-right of her setting.

“_Bon appétit_,” Kara replied, reaching for the same spoon in front of her.

She could do this. It might just be her and Lena Luthor in a giant marble room with two bowls of soup, but Lena clearly wasn’t going to go out of her way to make Kara feel any more stupid than she managed to feel all by herself.

Thinking she was in the clear when it came to demonstrating proper manners, Kara dipped her spoon into the bowl and was about to shovel a bite up to her mouth when she saw Lena’s first sip.

The other woman’s spoon made a dainty, shallow dip into the soup before moving the spoon to the furthest part of the bowl and clearing drips from the spoon’s bottom on the flat rim of the bowl. Lena then raised the spoon to her lips and silently sipped the liquid from the side.

“Huh. So that’s how you’re supposed to eat soup?” Kara asked with a self-conscious smile.

Lena looked down as if she hadn’t been aware she was doing anything unusual. Then she flashed a smile. “Only when it’s drilled into you, I guess. Please, eat however you’d like.”

“While you’re eating like royalty?” Kara shook her head. “I’ll feel like a Neanderthal.”

That earned her another smile with teeth and suddenly Kara felt a whole lot better.

“Show me how it’s done?” Kara said, adjusting her hold on the spoon to match Lena’s. “If I get invited to another fancy dinner someday, how should I eat the soup?”

There was some playfulness in Lena’s eyes as she glanced at Kara’s new grip. Kara knew she’d seen her switch it, but Lena made no note of that when she spoke.

“Well, you’re holding the spoon perfectly.”

“Thank you,” Kara said, matching her playfully polite tone. “I had a good teacher. What comes next?”

“Keeping your posture erect—”

“Erect?” Kara echoed with double-meaning before she could think better of it. She was so used to trolling her sister about words like that she didn’t even really think about it anymore.

She should start thinking about her words just a little harder.

Kara was still smacking herself mentally when she caught another smile from Lena.

“Yes, erect without being painfully stiff. All movements should remain fluid and comfortable.”

What? Was Lena seriously throwing some double-meaning back at her? Lena Luthor—one of the most famous lesbians on the planet—joking about erections?

Kara’s mind was a little blown.

“Right,” Kara said riffing along to test if she was going crazy or if this was really happening. “So I’m comfortably erect and I have a proper grip on my spoon. What’s next?”

Lena’s light jade eyes seemed to have a bit of a playful spark in them, but her expression stayed the picture of proper. “Well, the instinct is to move the spoon toward you to eat. It’s also quite common to see people put the whole spoon in their mouth and suck the liquid off with each serving. But it is considered polite to guide the spoon away from you first, cleaning the bowl of the spoon’s head to prevent undesired spillage.”

All said with a straight face—a feat Kara was struggling to mirror at Lena’s seemingly demure explanation, but somehow Kara pulled it off.

“That makes so much sense,” she managed to reply in an even tone while watching the other woman’s smooth movements.

“Most manners do when you break them down.”

“Seriously,” Kara agreed. “It’s like someone sat down and really put some thought into this.”

Lena nodded. “Well, they probably got sick of cleaning spots off their fine clothing.”

“Considering I’ve been doing it wrong this whole time, I can’t believe I don’t have more clothes with spots.”

Lena’s brow arched high, seeming to give Kara a chance to recant the innuendo.

Kara cleared her throat, knowing her cheeks were flushing but unable to do anything about it. So she focused on backtracking and recapping. “Right. So … first, shallowly dip the spoon into the soup. Then move the spoon toward the twelve-o’clock position of the bowl, wipe the bottom of the spoon on the rim, and bring the spoon to your lips sideways to sip the soup out from the side?”

“You’re a natural.”

Kara let out a little laugh. “Yeah, right.”

“I mean it. I didn’t catch on this fast.”

“Yeah, but you were probably four when you learned.”

Lena’s eyes suddenly looked a whole lot further away. “Somewhere around there, yes.”

Not knowing what to do with the sudden invisible distance dropping between them, Kara took her first bite. “Whoa. This is _so _good.”

Lena nodded. “I don’t request it enough, but it’s a perfect dish for fall.”

“Definitely.”

Silence. They were eating so it wasn’t as weird as it could have been, but something had shifted and Kara wanted the more light-hearted feeling back.

“So…” she said after a few bites. “You said this is your dad’s place?”

“Yes.”

“Where is he? Does he ever come home?”

“Not often,” Lena replied. “The last time was five years ago.”

“Oh. Wow. Where is he?”

“Enjoying retirement,” Lena said with a hint of a smile that made it seem like they had a good relationship. “Which is a nice way of saying he’s doing his best not to intervene after passing his companies off to his children. To that end, he is traveling the world, learning skills, and mostly doing all the things he didn’t have time to do when he was young.”

“Time?” Kara asked, taking another bite. “He was born into money, right?”

Lena nodded. “Yes.”

“So … couldn’t he do whatever he wanted when he was young?”

Whoa. It was like watching the light in Lena’s eyes disappear down a tunnel to hear the question. “Not quite. He had responsibilities that had to come first.”

“Oh.”

“What about your father?” Lena asked before another awkward silence could settle in.

A simple question with a complicated answer. Kara and her dad had never really gotten along, but she didn’t really want to get into that. Talking about her dad was kind of a vibe-killer.

“Oh, he’s a farmer and a preacher,” Kara replied. “He works six days a week on the farm and preaches on Sunday after the animals are fed.”

“Sounds like a solid man.”

“He is,” Kara said before taking another proper sip and choosing her words carefully. “He doesn’t get everything right, but his heart is in the right place.”

“And you were raised religiously?”

“Very,” Kara laughed.

“Do you still believe?”

Kara weighed the question while spooning up another bite. “Is it fair to say that maybe I never believed?”

“Of course.”

“But I always showed up,” Kara justified. “Like, I was on a pew every week and wasn’t a jerk about it or anything. When I moved to the city, it didn’t feel like anything was missing so I just spent Sundays with my sister—batch-cooking meals for the week.”

“Sounds nice.”

“It was. It still is. Maggie joins us these days. She’s basically family at this point. She and Alex have been together for two years.”

“How do your parents feel about that?”

“You mean about Alex being gay?” Kara clarified.

Lena nodded.

“Better than expected, actually,” Kara said, remembering Alex’s coming-out day vividly. “Overall, it’s not a thing we fight about.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“Yeah,” Kara agreed. “Alex and I were so worried before she came out. We ran scripts every day for a few weeks practicing responses to all their objections. But, in the end, we didn’t need any of it. Our parents rolled with it and let me know they are definitely expecting grandkids.”

“Specifically, from you?”

“Yeah.”

Lena didn’t seem to be a fan of that. “That’s a lot of pressure.”

Kara shrugged, focusing on her soup as her stomach twisted uncomfortably for reasons she couldn’t put a finger on. “I mean, it’s fine. It’s not like I’m _not_ planning on having a family someday.”

“Still,” Lena countered. “There is every possibility your sister could still have kids.”

“Yeah, but it’s a choice for her.”

“And not for you?” Lena asked, her tone sounding like Kara might have accidentally tripped onto a topic that was a bit of a soapbox for the woman.

The room suddenly felt a little warm. “It’s seriously fine.”

A short pause. “Okay. If you say so.”

Yep. Definitely soapbox territory for the woman. “Yeah, it’s all good. My parents might have to wait longer than they’d like, but I’ll get around to the idea of a family after my business is really solid and I can hire people to take most of the classes.”

“Sounds like you’ve thought about it,” Lena said, appearing interested in her future plans. It made Kara feel a bit guilty because she really hadn’t thought about it much at all. She’d just heard a lot of other women say something similar and it sounded good.

So Kara repeated it.

In truth, the idea of having children freaked her out a bit. Or, at least, the idea of getting pregnant with any of her exes while they had been together had freaked her out. She’d been pretty militant about condoms. Still was.

No slip ups on her watch.

But she’d probably be less vigilant about all that when she met the right guy. At least, that’s what everyone said. That when it was right, it was right, and her body would know the difference between Mr. Right and Mr. Right-Now.

When Kara found the one, she’d happily throw birth control to the wind. But she didn’t even have a boyfriend at the moment, so it was all pie in the sky anyway.

That’s what she was telling herself when she realized Lena was watching her.

“Sorry,” Kara said, blushing lightly at being caught off in dreamland. “Kind of spaced out there a little bit, didn’t I?”

“Don’t worry about it. You clearly had a little more thinking to do on the topic.”

Kara flashed a non-committal smile and was searching for some way to respond when Melly distracted them both by entering with the salad course.

Saved!

Kara quickly downed the last two bites of soup in her bowl. If she were at home, she would have definitely pushed for seconds. But since there was clearly more food coming, Kara swallowed her request for more with her last bite and rested her spoon in the dish at the same angle Lena’s was resting—end pointing to four o’clock.

A few moments later, the soup bowl disappeared and was replaced by a salad that looked like it had an Instagram filter over it, like X-Pro or Lo-Fi.

“Whoa,” Kara said, taking in the vivid colors. “It all looks so fresh.”

“All the vegetables are from the garden, Miss,” Melly replied. “They were picked today.”

“Oh.” Of course, they were. “Well, this looks delicious.”

“Thank you, Miss.”

Melly’s formality felt weird, but Kara assumed it was just part of her job so she didn’t say anything. She might be wearing sweat-wicking activewear, but the rest of the house was quite formal. Why shouldn’t the staff be?

“Thank you, Melly,” Lena said as she received her plate, her hand reaching for the fork on her far-left.

“You’re welcome, Ms. Luthor,” Melly said as Kara located her own fork and dug in.

She didn’t like to brag, but Kara was kind of a salad expert. If there was a salad, she’d tried it. And she was a big fan of beets, so she was looking forward to what the Queen of Butternut Squash Soup could do with the widespread of vegetables and seeds involved in this dream of a salad in front of her.

Kara quickly gathered up a proportional mix of ingredients into the perfect bite—maybe a little bit bigger than she planned—and dove in, biting down and letting the flavor flood her mouth.

The flavor was amazing. That was the good news.

The bad news? Kara had never taken such a conspicuous bite of salad in her life. The crunch was _so _loud.

Man, these vegetables were fresh.

She glanced up to see if perchance Lena was somehow missed her most recent bout with awkward.

She hadn’t. And the woman was definitely a little amused—not in a condescending way, but not necessarily in a way that made Kara feel any less like Huck Finn around the billionaire either.

“Sorry,” Kara said through a mouthful of roughage, before covering her mouth with her hand and adding, “currently experiencing technical difficulties.”

To her relief, that got a solid laugh from the other woman, during which Kara chewed like a manic rabbit behind her hand until she was able to swallow without choking. Across from her, Lena took another silent bite.

“I’m guessing someone made up some manners for eating salad to avoid awkward scenes like what just went down.”

There was that grin again, the playful one that made Kara feel like maybe she wasn’t face-planting in her Nikes after all.

“There might be a trick or two.”

Kara switched her grip to match Lena’s again before smiling up at her like an eager student. “You have my full attention.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love kudos, comments, and being followed @TheSmuttyBard on Twitter


	9. Chapter 9

Dinner was awesome … and weirdly comfortable, all things considered.

Yes, Kara had made an ass of herself on more than one occasion.

Maybe—just maybe—she had made an ass of herself seven times.

But Lena had always played along and they’d moved on like nothing happened. Kara got along with pretty much everyone, but she and Lena had a weird rhythm to them she couldn’t put her finger on. Even their falters flowed, and all the while Kara felt freakishly intimidated and totally intrigued at the same time.

Was there a word for that?

If so, Kara couldn’t think of it.

Kara kept waiting for sex to come up outside of the soup tutorial. It hadn’t. Lena had focused on learning about Kara’s business and hobbies, making the conversation feel like a mix between a job interview and first date.

But when Lena had Kara sign a non-disclosure agreement before leading her to a stairway headed downstairs, Kara knew they had reached the topic at hand. She might be on the more inexperienced side when it came to adult behaviors, but she wasn’t naive. When social activities moved to the basement, something was afoot. And it probably wasn’t vanilla-flavored.

Her guess was that Lena had some sort of sex room. Probably bondage.

She’d heard stories about bondage stuff, and they always made her laugh. Cuffs and whips definitely weren’t her thing. If anything, it all seemed cheesy and over-theatrical to her. If people needed stuff like that to get off, Kara wasn’t going to judge. But it wasn’t her thing. For sure.

Was it Lena’s?

Kara was about to find out.

The mood switch from upstairs to downstairs was abrupt.

Upstairs was like the lobby of a museum—brightly lit yet cold, while being cultured and meticulously clean.

Downstairs was… “Lena?”

“Yes?”

“Is this for real?”

Aquariums became the walls of halls that felt more like tunnels into a different world. An aquatic kingdom.

“I should hope so,” Lena said. “I hire many specialists to keep them happy and well.”

Off to Kara’s right, an octopus—an _octopus_—swam by at about shoulder height. Kara got the strange feeling it was checking her out.

“Each exhibit is an ecosystem of symbiotic species,” Lena said. “They live in a native environment, feeding as they would in the wild. Many of the habitats are catered to the living conditions of threatened species.”

“Whoa,” Kara breathed, gaping at the floor-to-ceiling view of an aquatic world. There were so many places to look, but it seemed rude to ignore the octopus when it was taking such a clear interest in her.

“I see you and the Bitch Queen are hitting it off,” Lena said, sounding amused.

“The octopus?” Kara asked.

Lena nodded.

“She’s so cool,” Kara breathed.

“She’s also a diva,” Lena warned.

“How can you tell?”

“Octopi are very expressive,” Lena said. “You’ll see for yourself if you start coming around. She’ll start judging your outfits and call you out if she thinks you are otherwise problematic.”

“She will not.”

Lena shrugged and gestured for Kara to continue down the hall. “I guess we’ll see.”

Based on Lena’s smile, Kara had a sense that somehow she really would start believing an octopus could have opinions on fashion.

Lena motioned for Kara to continue walking, leading her further into the surreal environment where everything but them was swimming. Kara had yet to see a door. The entire basement seemed to be one big hallway.

“Aren’t you worried about all this glass breaking and flooding your house?” she asked.

“No,” Lena said, calm as can be. “You could fire a cannon at this glass and not crack it. But even if you did, the water line would remain below ground level in the event of a breach. The basement would be flooded, but the main and upper floors would remain untouched.”

They kept walking, the aquatic worlds getting no less awesome as they crossed a threshold into a tropical environment, bright fish swimming happily through thriving reef.

Kara could spend a day down here and never get bored.

“How big are these tanks?”

“They cover the underground of the main house, with reflective tunnels filtering in sunlight to create more natural conditions. It’s a technology developed for creating living conditions in man-made tunnels, but it works here as well. The only artificial lights are at these display windows, which the creatures only visit if they want to.”

This was insane.

Kara had come downstairs expecting whips and leather, not an aquarium.

This was so much cooler.

“They can even change the display light colors, if they want to,” Lena added.

“Who can?”

“The sea creatures that figure the controls out,” Lena said like a proud parent.

Okay, this woman was seriously an enigma inside of an enigma, all balanced on killer heels that made her legs and ass look perfect. Was there anything this woman couldn’t pull off?

This was seriously turning into the coolest night of Kara’s life.

“You’re staring at my ass, Kara,” Lena said out of the blue and Kara jerked her eyes up.

“Sorry,” she said, trying to look like she felt bad about it. “I was just wondering how hard it would be to kick something in those heels.”

“Interesting,” Lena said, as if that made total sense.

It didn’t. Kara knew it didn’t … and yet Lena seemed pleased by the excuse.

“Well, I guess that’s as good a segue as any to our last door.”

_The only door,_ Kara corrected mentally. There was only one door on the entire floor, and it had a secured entrance.

“I think you’ll like this next part, too,” Lena said, placing her hand over a scanner. A moment later, Kara heard gears moving inside the door and parts shifting before the lock popped open.

With a step, they moved from aquarium to museum. Wall art, glass cases, sculptures.

“This is a vault, of sorts,” Lena explained. “The entrance is waterproofed, and this is where we keep everything we want onsite but is not suitable for display within the home.”

“Whoa,” Kara said, walking further into the dimly lit space. Walls in this area were a deep taupe, offsetting most of the items quite nicely. “This is amazing.”

Lena nodded. “There are some great pieces in here.”

Just as she said that, Kara moved into sight of a mounted bull’s head high on the wall. Her feet stalled to a stop on instinct.

“What’s with the bull head?” she asked, trying to make the question sound casual, and failing. “Does your family hunt?”

“Bulls?” Lena asked, eyebrow popping up. “No. My family actually started out in the cattle business when they immigrated here. The bull you see changed my family’s stars from poor immigrants to affluent influencers.”

Oh. That was nice. But Kara still didn’t like the trophy.

“It’s quite an interesting story, actually,” Lena added, sounding like she wanted to talk about it.

“Yeah?”

She nodded. “The Luthor family made a living as farmers and ranchers before coming to America, and my adopted great-grandfather five-times over had an eye for livestock. When he arrived, he had the funds to afford several cows, but when he saw this big boy” —she pointed up at the bull head— “he knew he was looking at a prize investment. The previous owner knew that he had a winner, too, but he also had gambling debts. So, in the end, he ended up swapping the bull for every coin the first Luthores had.”

“Whoa.”

“Yeah. His wife wasn’t happy until he started studding the boy out in trade for cash and goods. From there, they got seeds to farm and more cows to milk and breed, and things skyrocketed. Decades later, they were living on all the acres we’re currently standing on, in a house that is still preserved about a half-mile away from here.”

“Really?” Kara suddenly wanted to see it. For some reason, she imagined one of those houses with a deck that went all the way around the house. It was probably way more homey than this main house.

Lena nodded with obvious nostalgia then looked back up at the bull. “When the big boy passed, they sent him to a taxidermist to preserve the lesson that you never know what will change your fate, and to never doubt your judgment when you see a clear path forward.”

“Cool,” Kara said. And it was. She just wished she didn’t have to look at those horns.

“You don’t like it.” It wasn’t a question.

Kara smiled in apology. “I kind of hate bulls.”

“I can tell.”

“Nothing against your family.”

“Obviously.”

“I just saw a guy get gored once,” Kara said, blinking away the memory even as she spoke. “And I can’t unsee it.”

“I understand. It’s hard to get rid of those images once they find their way into your psyche.”

“Totally.”

“Well, we can skip past this area and move right to the main event, if you would like. You didn’t come here to see my family’s collectibles. They just happen to be on the way to where we’re going.”

“You let everyone who comes oversee all this?”

“Why not?” Lena said with an easy shrug. “Things like these are meant to be appreciated. They also give me insight into people’s thoughts. For example, I never would have guessed you had a fear of bulls. Now I know.”

“I guess … it just seems like a security risk,” Kara said, looking around at the sculptures and art. “Aren’t you afraid of something getting stolen?”

“It would be an upside-down investment to rob this vault,” Lena replied. “The items have value, yes, but they are not invaluable or highly coveted. Those with the ability to rob it would have no interest in its contents. All things considered, they’re safe.”

“Oh. That’s good.”

“But it’s probably best we move on to the next door. You’re probably more curious about that.”

Kara’s heart picked up its pace.

In a flash, the evening went from friendly to something else Kara didn’t quite have a name for. But it tickled a little in a way that reminded her of her first bungee jump. Scared but excited, and curious at the same time.

_You just want her as a client so you can come back here,_ she told herself before flashing a smile. “Yeah. Let’s go for it.”

Lena led her through the displays to a final door, her hand reaching for the handle as she said, “Welcome to my favorite room in the house.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Those of you who wanted a longer chapter: Tada! This one's a biggie.
> 
> Apologies for not giving it a proofread. Please feel free to point it out if I missed something glaring.
> 
> Also, a re-post of TouristSeason's cover since this is the chapter with the color scheme ;)

Yep. Kara had definitely been right about the sex dungeon. And it wasn’t a starter kit, either.

Weirdly elegant devices lined the room like a kinky gym with different specialized stations, all circling around to a bed the size of a silky, black lake that filled one corner. It didn’t take an expert to notice its headboard and its four posts had definitely been designed with functions in mind.

“Take a moment,” Lena said. “Look around at your own pace and feel free to touch anything you like.”

_Touch it? _she thought, looking around and spotting another door to the room on the opposite wall. Closed. “Where does that lead?”

“To a full bathroom, with a waterfall shower and a vanity with makeup and closets,” Lena replied.

So … no walks of shame out of the dungeon?

Kara walked further into the room, her eyes drawn to what seemed to be authentic wood frames on equipment with iron and brass features. Each tool looked like it had been discovered on a pirate ship and glossed to perfection. The wood was so shiny … the metalwork so exact, without looking machine-cut.

_Hand-made,_ Kara decided after running her hand over the wood on one of the machines. She didn’t know how she knew, but it just felt hand-shaped. Smooth, without ever being truly flat.

Kara had no idea what any of these devices did, but they’d been built by someone who really knew what they were doing. And they looked high-end medieval … like they were built to survive delivery via catapult.

Part of Kara’s brain told her she should be freaking out … that anyone she knew would tell her she’d be smart to turn around and run away at full speed.

Yet the athlete in her was intrigued by this unique gym and its many stations.

What were their exercises, and what was their payoff? Why did people not only do them but create machines? Like the one closest to her. It looked like a massage chair, only fully horizontal.

“What’s this one do?” she asked, imagining her own uses for it.

“That’s a spanking bench,” Lena replied.

Oh.

Whoa.

An entire station just for spanking? Why?

She decided not to ask and just kept looking around until she spotted something she actually knew how to use.

“You have a massage table down here?” she asked, even though the answer was obvious.

“Yes.” Lena said. “It comes in handy.”

Kara walked over to it. “The rest of this stuff is a mystery to me, but this? I know how to use this.”

“Me, too,” Lena replied. “Along with everything else you see.”

Kara had no idea how to respond to that so she tested the sturdiness of the massage table. Yep. Definitely sturdy, with comfortable padding. Next to this table, Kara’s looked like an IKEA special.

“But as I promised before,” Lena said, cutting into Kara’s inferiority complex. “This evening will be talking only. There will be no demonstrations or tutorials tonight. Right now we’re just looking at whether you’re even interested.”

“Oh.” Good. That was good.

She looked around the room again, this time noticing a closet with a sliding door had been built into the wall.

She pointed over to it. “What’s in that?”

Lena walked over, hand rising to slide the panel open. “Custom clothing and accessories.”

Kara followed, intrigued despite herself, at what the door slid away to reveal.

Kinky leather stuff with brass features.

“Why the brass theme?” Kara asked, not sure why. It stood out for some reason. Maybe because the doorknobs at her parents’ house were brass and seeing the metal made it really hard not to think about what her parents would think if they were watching her that very moment.

They’d be telling her to run like Joseph in Egypt.

Her father really liked using that story whenever he preached about celibacy. But everything Kara was looking at was so interesting—not in a way that made Kara want to try it—in a way that made her curious as to why the woman next to her was such a diehard about it. Because nothing in this room could have come cheap.

Not even the collar Kara was eyeing at that very moment.

A dog wouldn’t wear that collar, but a badass bitch definitely would.

“Brass is anti-microbial,” Lena replied. “It self-cleanses harmful bacteria and microbes within two hours. Everything is cleaned after each use, but I like anti-microbial where I can get it.”

Huh. Kara had already forgotten her initial question, but that was interesting.

She looked past all the outfits, not wanting to appear too interested, and reached for the top of six drawers in front of her. When she slid it opened, Kara saw an assortment of varying-sized and -shaped dildos inside.

“Holy cow,” Kara said, looking at the largest one stored across the top of the drawer like a dessert spoon.

Kara was never going to be able to look at spoons the same again after tonight.

Or dildos. Because … damn. Who the hell wanted something that big shoved inside of them?

Ouch.

The more realistically sized dildos were stored from left-to-right, smallest to largest. The smallest model wasn’t much bigger than a finger and the sizes went up from there.

Without thinking about it, Kara started looking for ones that were a similar size to some of her exes and naming the sizes until she spotted one that was maybe seven inches long with really solid girth.

If Kara had to pick one—which she totally wasn’t going to do—she’d want to meet a guy who looked a little like that below the belt. Long, but not long enough to bottom out, while stretching her in a way she was pretty sure she’d like.

“You like that one?” Lena asked, catching Kara’s focus.

“I … um, yeah, I guess?” Kara stammered. “I mean, I just haven’t seen those proportions in real life.”

“They are uncommon,” Lena said. “But I hear they feel quite good to some.”

“You haven’t tried it?” Kara asked, before realizing the question was super personal.

Lena shook her head. “I don’t like to _receive_ in that manner, but I have no qualms being the giver if it feels good to my partner.”

“Oh,” was all Kara could think to say, her mind easily picturing such a scenario for some reason.

“These all attach to a harness,” Lena replied. “Well, except for the big one across the top. That’s its own game.”

A game Kara both did and did not want to ask about in equal measure. Instead, she opened the next drawer, which was apparently the restraint drawer with six options. The one right in front of her had two cuffs on short chains and two cuffs on long chains, all connected to a thick-banded collar in the middle.

Not quite daring to ask about it, Kara focused on the quality of the materials instead. “I have no idea what I’m looking at, but it looks expensive.”

“It is,” Lena said with a matter-of-fact nod. “They are made by my own private company, separate from family holdings.”

“You made all this?”

“My employees did, yes. We do high-end and custom offerings, made to order. You won’t see my products in a store.”

“Why not?” Kara thought aloud, knowing stores would die to get their hands on something like anything she was looking at.

“Because sometimes you want to buy the best, and sometimes you want to be the best,” Lena replied. “And the best cannot be mass-produced on an affordable scale, so why compromise?”

Whoa.

So Lena was diehard enough that she’d used her massive fortune to become an elite brand in the bondage world.

That was seriously intense.

Desperate for a distraction, Kara reached out for the collar with short chains leading to shackles.

“So what’s this?” she asked

“A restraint,” Lena replied, holding up the thick center collar. “This goes around the neck. The longer chains lead to the feet, and the short chains lead to the wrists.”

Kara tested the length of the hand shackles, confused to see they only stretched ten inches. That wasn’t much to work with. “How do you reach anything with these on?”

“You’re not supposed to,” Lena replied.

That didn’t make sense. “What’s the point of that?”

“Many people find confining restrictions comforting and arousing.”

Who? And Why? Kara held her hands that far away from her neck and shook her head. “Really? I’d feel like a T-Rex in this thing. You’ve got to be able to move your arms during sex. This would be terrible.”

“To each their own,” Lena said with a smile that made Kara feel pretty sure the woman wasn’t offended. Which was good.

This was some seriously twisted shit they were looking at here, and Kara was definitely planning on having a delayed freak out later. But all that was offset by the fact that she genuinely liked Lena Luthor. The woman might be crazy kinky when it came to sex, but she would be a great friend. She had the vibe of someone who didn’t get old to be around, and Kara had never had a friend like that.

Kara had no idea how she was going to pull it off, but she wanted to walk out of here with a friend.

“Well, I need my arms,” Kara heard herself saying. “This girl likes to hold on to who she’s with.”

Why had she said that? And why did her tone somehow sound like the wrong side of friendly?

“Noted,” Lena replied, happily not reading anything into Kara’s less-bubbly tone.

The next drawer displayed an assortment of feathers, whips, and crops that looked far less terrifying than the items in the drawer above them.

“Which is your favorite?” Kara asked before she could think better of it.

Gah! What was she doing? Asking questions was the opposite of not sounding interested.

“Depends on my partner and their relationship to sensory play.”

“Their?” Kara asked, the pronoun catching her attention for some reason. “Not her?”

Lena grinned. “Good catch. Women are my passion, but the occasional fully restrained male is also an academic interest from time to time.”

“But you don’t…” Kara made a motion with her hands that she instantly regretted.

Again, Lena didn’t seem at all put off by her gracelessness. “No. Not even close. They all wear cages.”

Kara wasn’t exactly sure what that meant, but she could guess.

“You’re starting to look at little overwhelmed,” Lena said, gesturing over to a platform that definitely looked sturdy enough for sex. “Why don’t we move on to the part where I introduce you to what I would like to propose between us?”

“Okay,” Kara said. What else was there to say?

“Do you have any questions you want me to address first?” Lena asked as they made their way over to the table-platform thing. It was hip-level to start, but Lena hit a button that started making it rise.

“Uh, can I ask what made you think I’d be into this?”

The question kind of came out more offensive than she’d planned, but Lena didn’t seem to notice.

“I think there are some thresholds you’d like some help crossing in your life,” she said as if recommending a book. “There are many ways to do that involving no sex at all, but I can offer a pretty great sexual journey down that road. I also think you have qualities that can help me, as well.”

Seriously? Lena Luthor thought she’d be good for her? Why? “Qualities like what?”

“Your optimism, for one,” Lena replied, ticking the thought off on her finger. “Your unfiltered honesty and enthusiasm.” She looked like she might have another quality or two to add her list before pursing her lips together and finishing with, “Among other things.”

Kara studied the other woman, not quite sure how she felt about Lena seeming to have put so much thought into her sexuality when they’d really only just met. Two minutes in a business meeting and Kara was supposed to believe that Lena had picked up on all that?

“You seem to have a lot of ideas about me,” she said, fishing for more information.

“I do,” Lena agreed. “All of them intriguing.”

Which was flattering except for one problematic detail: Kara dated guys. It was time to be very clear about where she stood on that.

“Ideas that require me to be into women,” Kara pointed out.

Without even a beat of hesitation, Lena nodded. “Yes.”

Kara felt some heat rise in her cheeks and tried to push it back. “But I’m interested in guys.”

“Interested, yes,” Lena agreed. “But attracted? I’m not so sure.”

“What? Why would you say that?”

“Because of your business partner,” Lena said, looking unflustered while Kara was definitely starting to panic a little.

“Jimmy?” They totally got along. He was her best friend. If Lena had a problem with him, things were about to get ugly really fast.

Not seeming to notice Kara’s shift in mood, Lena nodded. “He’s a beautiful man.”

“Yeah, so?” Kara said, feeling defensive. “He’s more than just his looks. There’s a really good guy under all that muscle.”

One corner of Lena’s mouth twitched up. “Exactly.”

Wait. What? “Exactly, what?”

“He’s a near-perfect specimen of a man and yet you—to put it somewhat crassly—have no inclination to breed him. The two of you are perfect platonics who must have had any number of opportunities to slip into bed with each other. Yet you haven’t. It’s obvious.”

Lena smirked a bit at that, as if daring Kara to tell her she was wrong. But she couldn’t.

“That’s a little bit gay, Kara. If you pay attention and take a moment to be honest with yourself, you might notice that it’s not the only evidence your interest might lie more in women.”

For the first time that night, Kara didn’t like Lena. “You think because I don’t sleep with my business partner that I’m gay?”

“No. I’m saying that you’ve friend-zoned a perfect male specimen that you could easily have as a mate.”

“Because we work really well together, and that’s rare,” Kara defended. “Neither of us wanted to risk losing that.”

Lena nodded. “Okay. If I misread your motives on that, I apologize. But I’m interested enough in you that I guess I’m willing to risk offending you in hopes I might be right.”

Well, she wasn’t. Especially if she thought Kara wanted to spend her downtime being strapped to medieval torture devices and whipped by a billionaire.

Who in their right mind wanted to do that?

“Does part of your idea of being right include me being a submissive, or whatever it is you call it?”

“I have my predictions,” Lena said in that unruffled way of hers. “I sense you have a tendency to lean into what you think will make other people happy. I’d be interested in seeing what dust you kick up in getting what you want, too.”

“I kick up dust,” Kara replied, more than a little offended. “I have my own business. You don’t get that without putting your foot down a time or two.”

Lena nodded, seemingly undeterred by Kara’s tone. “How about sex?”

“What about it?”

“Do you like it?” Lena asked.

Was she serious? “Of course.”

Those jade eyes focused on her with interest. “When was the last time someone blew your mind in bed?”

“Like, how long has it been since I’ve had sex?” Kara asked, nerves starting to kick in.

She wasn’t sure how comfortable she was disclosing that. It had kind of been a while—not because no one was willing. Kara had offers all the time. She could have a guy waiting for her in her bed when she got home if she wanted. But life was busy and it was just easier to be single now and focus on her business.

Lena shook her head. “No. When was the last time sex really blew your mind?”

Drawing a blank for some reason, Kara settled with a vague. “It’s been a while, I guess. I’m not really dating right now.”

Which was the perfect excuse to say no to Lena after all this. Kara was saying no to everyone right now. She was focused on work these days. Her rejection wasn’t personal. They could still be friends.

“Understood,” Lena said, gesturing to the papers on the now rib-high table. “Perhaps that is what I find so alluring about you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your untouched primal energy,” Lena said. “I think you’ve probably had some fun sex but maybe never fully fucked.”

Damn, the woman was dead-on with some of her observations. They kept knocking Kara back on her heels more than she was used to. It didn’t help that Lena’s eyes seemed to have direct access to a view of Kara’s soul.

No one had ever looked at her like that. Ever.

It kind of tickled and that was definitely not good.

Desperate to avoid scrutiny, Kara focused in on the papers between them on the table. The header read: _CONTRACT OF OWNING_ in large letters across the top, with a sub-header of: _Template for Master-Slave Agreement._

Whoa. Wait. What?

“Slave?” Kara asked, pulling the papers toward herself. “Are you serious?”

Lena didn’t look at all embarrassed. “Yes.”

“You think I want to be a slave?”

“It’s where everyone starts,” Lena said, as if proposing slavery—the worst thing known to man—was at all reasonable. “Mastery is learned and earned. I had mentors, and I could be yours for a time before you move on to partners you find more to your taste. My skills do not require you to be physically attracted to me. I can still show you how to maximize any attraction you feel for anyone.”

And just like that, Kara felt herself grow a little intrigued.

Man, Lena Luthor was good at sales.

Like, really good.

If the woman wasn’t already a billionaire, she could definitely be making six- or seven-figures somewhere, selling stuff. Because even though Kara knew her answer, she could feel herself wanting to consider it.

But she had to say no.

Had to.

She’d promised herself that back in high school after one of Alex’s exes had hit on her.

Kara still remembered everything about that day like a tattoo she’d gotten yesterday.

Amy Prachett.

She’d been blonde, like Kara, but with brown eyes and bigger breasts. Not, like, crazy big ones, but the size that made a B-cup and little too small and C-cups a little too big. And they’d been perfect. Kara had walked past the gym showers and caught a glimpse more than once.

Amy had been on the Varsity soccer team with Alex and Kara. Amy and Alex had been seniors and Kara a sophomore.

Amy had been bi with an off-and-on boyfriend. When she and the boyfriend had been “off”, Alex and Amy had been “on”.

Weirdly, though, Amy and Alex really didn’t have anything in common besides their skill on the field and their attraction for each other. This meant conversations had frequently stalled out between them, making for awkward partings.

Often, Alex would leave Amy and Kara together to talk while she went to do “homework” or something to escape Amy’s need for conversation. And, one day, Amy had leaned in while she and Kara were talking and kissed her.

Just like that. Boom. They’d been kissing.

Kara still remembered every treacherous touch—the hand cupping her face, the soft press of lips, Amy’s other hand resting about halfway up her thigh … fingers lightly caressing as if asking permission to go higher.

Then Kara heard the side door open and her mom asking for help bringing in groceries. And she’d run—never looking back and giving Amy only an absent wave when the girl said she had to go after all the groceries were in.

The next day, Alex and Amy had broken up and never gotten back together.

Everything about the whole situation had felt so wrong and Kara had sworn she’d never go there again.

And she wouldn’t. No matter how tempting Lena made it sound, Kara knew what her answer needed to be. Her parents didn’t even want one gay daughter, not to mention two, and Alex didn’t have a choice.

Kara did.

She had to give Lena the same answer she’d given Amy Prachett eleven years ago.

It was time for Kara to find the pivot into pitching massage over whatever the hell she was holding in her hand. Because getting tied up and whipped definitely wouldn’t be happening, even if there was an actual goddess on the other side of the equation.

Some doors just needed to stay shut.

Looking for leverage to back up her answer, Kara’s eyes scanned the document, repeatedly seeing the terms _master_ and _slave_ throughout without really reading any of the words around the terms.

“Why have a contract?” Kara asked. “Master? Slave? What’s the point in that?”

“There is an obvious disparity between our incomes and social status that needs to be addressed,” Lena said, as if the words weren’t totally condescending. “Also, anyone permitted access into my personal life must meet certain loyalty and security standards. You agree to the loyalty; I agree to guarantee your safety and other needs. Conditions and requirements like these are written into the contract to avoid any misunderstandings or false expectations later on.”

Kara thought of Melly upstairs and her jaw dropped. “Wait. So all your staff have contracts like this?”

“Yes.”

“Does that mean…” Kara didn’t know how to finish her question, but apparently, a hand gesture did it for her.

“No,” Lena said, filling in her meaning. “None of their contracts are sexual in nature. They are skill-set and compensation-focused. But I would like your contract to be sexual and benefit-focused, while avoiding the idea of financial compensation. I think both of us might want to stay away from the idea of trading money for sex.”

_Ya’ think? Kara _considered it a small miracle she didn’t say the words out loud. That was progress for her.

“But my ears are open if I’ve presumed too much on that front,” Lena added. “I want to make this work. I’m attracted to you in a way I haven’t really experienced before. If you feel the same way, I would like to explore that in a way where we both benefit.”

There was something incredibly flattering and condescending about everything Kara had just heard. But in either case, she had no idea how to respond other than to deflect.

“Why not just ask me out?” she asked. _Even though I would say no._

“Because it’s a slow road to the same with a lot more miscommunication,” Lena said without emotion. “I’m rich, and I have no doubt you’ve imagined ways that might benefit you. Why date and try to navigate me toward those outcomes via my heart when we can just put them on the table from the start and skip the mind games? It’s much cleaner this way.”

Whoa. Someone had a few defense mechanisms.

“So, tell me, Kara. What do you want? Given a blank page to make requests, what would you ask of me?”

Kara looked back at the contract, counting the pages. Eight. That made for a lot of words she didn’t plan on reading. “I think the question is what do _you_ want from _me_?”

“Loyalty, trust, and access to whatever you’re willing to share of yourself,” Lena said.

Kara didn’t reply, waiting for her to keep going. But she didn’t. “That’s it?”

“Essentially,” Lena said with a crisp nod.

“And you need eight pages to say that?” Kara asked, holding up the contract like Exhibit A in a courtroom.

Lena shook her head. “No. Most of that is for you to fill in your conditions. For example, if you state that you want a contract for one week where we eat dinner together and get to know each other with no other contact, I am open to that being our first contract. I’m happy to move at your pace to start until you’re comfortable trusting me with more.”

First of all, that sounded like a terrible idea. Because, of course, Kara would trust her with more than that. How could she not? Lena was awesome.

Second of all, that didn’t sound like a slave contract. “I thought you were the master and I would be the slave.”

“That is correct,” Lena said.

“So aren’t you the boss? Don’t you make the demands?”

“I am the keeper of order,” Lena replied. “Just like I care for this property and my businesses, so would I care for you, based on your specifications. That would be my part of the contract. Yours would be to play a role in my life. To that end, there would be rules and punishments for breaking them.”

Was it just Kara, or was the room starting to get really hot? “What happens if _you_ break a rule?”

“If I fail my conditions, the contract is voided and you will be free to renew under new terms or leave entirely,” Lena said, her tone bloodless, as if it didn’t matter to her one way or the other. “Slaves are learning a new way in a new household. They cannot be expected to be perfect. But the master of the house should be perfect within their own standards, or they are no master at all.”

None of this really sounded like the slavery Kara was used to hearing about. She wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. Because slavery was bad. It just was.

There had to be a trap door under everything Lena was saying that didn’t appear until everything was signed.

“I know you’re used to a more free-market approach to relationships,” Lena said, seeming to sense Kara’s mental struggle. “For example, you are a contractor with your business. You can come to L-Corp on Friday and do massages, then show up at my competitor’s business on Monday and massage them, too. That is a dynamic that is acceptable business-to-business. But I can’t let you into my personal life only to show up to an industry party with you on the arm of one of my competitors.”

That sounded oddly specific.

“I can’t allow myself to become a stepping stone or a leveraging stick,” Lena continued. “Too many livelihoods are on the line for me to leave room for insider knowledge to leak via personal relationships. I need guarantees in writing that information gained through personal access will not be used against me professionally.”

“Has that happened before? The date-at-the-party thing?” Kara asked, and the closest thing she got to an answer was a quick clench of Lena’s jaw.

It totally had. There was definitely a story there—a story Kara really wanted to hear all of a sudden.

“The main point is that there are some areas in my life where I cannot leave room for competition,” Lena said. “The pilot who flies my private jet cannot fly my competition’s jet as well. My bodyguard can’t be taking money from another employer, and the person who cooks for me can’t also work for someone who might benefit from me falling ill.” She raised an eyebrow. “I’m sure you see a trend here that transfers into even more personal relationships.”

“I guess,” Kara said, looking back down at the paperwork. “But why not call it something else? Like, an employee or something?”

Lena shook her head. “I cannot fulfill many obligations unless the undersigned can be proven to be part of my household. An employer can do very little to protect an employee, and is often forced to sever ties when things get rough. But if I can show someone is part of my household in a manner that is respected both nationally and internationally, doors open for me to act on their behalf in times of trouble. It’s best for everyone.”

It didn’t sound _best_, but Kara had no idea how to counter the argument.

The truth was, school hadn’t really been Kara’s thing. And she definitely hadn’t ever take a debate class. She always thought people who did were nerds. But one of those nerds would probably know exactly what to say to someone like Lena Luthor when she pitched the idea of being her slave their way.

They’d know what to say.

Dammit. She totally should have taken debate in high school. If she had, she’d be kicking ass now.

Instead, all she could think to say was, “What you’re describing doesn’t sound like any master-slave relationship I’ve heard of.”

“That’s because people are doing it wrong,” Lena said, as if she were the expert above them all.

The woman was seriously arrogant. And what made it worse was that it was a really good look for her. Cocky Lena Luthor made Kara’s hands a little sweaty and she wasn’t sure what to do about that.

“So everyone else is getting it wrong while you’re getting it right?” she asked while ignoring the need to wipe her hands.

Kara’s tone earned her a raised brow, but otherwise, Lena’s demeanor remained unchanged. “Many people do get it right. More than you know. But because they get it right, you never hear about them. You hear about the tyrants who do it wrong to force others to play out their narcissistic fantasies. But that is not what this is about.”

That last line definitely should not have sounded as hot as it did.

Definitely not.

It took everything in Kara to keep her tone skeptical as she asked, “Then what is it about?”

“Pleasure,” Lena said gently. “On both sides. Two people touching heaven together in perfect trust. That’s what it’s about.”

Oh.

Lena Luthor wanted _that_ kind of slave.

Well, damn.

Seriously, this woman could sell salt to the ocean. Declining seemed like a huge missed opportunity and yet what else could she do? She’d promised herself she wouldn’t go here. And what would she say if she did?

What would she tell her parents?

That she wasn’t a lesbian? She was just currently serving as the sex slave to a lesbian princess of the Illuminati, but that she was totally planning on marrying a guy later so not to worry?

Because it wasn’t like they wouldn’t find out.

Kara was terrible at secrets. The only way to keep them from other people was for Kara to keep them from herself. Otherwise, they were written all over her.

If sex with Lena Luthor was as good as the woman let on, then it would show on Kara and everyone would know where she’d gotten her glow.

Everyone.

Including her parents.

So she had to say no—had to.

On top of that, Kara didn’t want the term _sex slave _appearing in her personal memoir. Even if it meant she got to hang around with Lena Luthor. The woman was awesome and everything, but if the old adage said you shouldn’t meet your heroes, Kara couldn’t help but also think it was a bad idea to become their sex slaves, too.

Because Kara might have only met Lena for the first time a few days ago, but she’d spent years looking at a younger version of the woman’s face over Alex’s desk back in high school.

Junior year, Alex had found the Luthor family portrait in a magazine highlighting Lena’s sexuality and had taped the picture next to her laptop to make a point to their dad that lesbians could be respected in the world.

Kara had looked at that picture a lot, although she wasn’t quite sure why. There was just something about Lena in the picture … like an ocelot among house cats.

She just stood out for reasons Kara could never put her finger on.

She’d tried, though. All in all, she’d probably spent hours trying to figure out why Lena was a prettier woman than Lex was a handsome man, even though they were both definitely good looking. When Kara looked at Lex all by himself, he was seriously hot. She’d be way flattered if a guy that sexy hit on her.

Yet he became forgettable next to his sister. Kara still wasn’t sure how that was possible to this day … although, looking at Lena right then, Kara was going to say it had something to do with the woman’s eyes. Those faded shades of jade—not deep green—more of a watchful sage, framed by ebony lashes that rarely blinked … making it so easy for Kara to forget when she went from looking to staring. But she was definitely staring now—marveling at their beautiful chill as they studied Kara in return with a vigilance that looked exhausting.

In an odd way, Lena’s eyes were like the house she lived in—beautiful to look at but impersonal and untouchable.

Lonely.

Realizing that, Kara’s eyes moved lower, taking in other clues of the cracks in the woman’s high walls.

There was a tension in the curve of Lena’s jaw that needed releasing, a drop in her left shoulder that needed rebalancing, and a habitual clench in her right hip when she struck her signature pose that was throwing off her foundation.

Kara could fix that. And that was her pivot in all this … her counter-offer to this slave business. Because she hadn’t come over to sign up to become Lena’s next sex slave. She’d come over to let Lena Luthor know it was time to recalibrate her body a bit.

Cars needed a tune-up after so many miles, and so did humans.

There was a long line of people Lena could sleep with, but the line of people who could fix her body was much shorter.

Remembering that, Kara stopped fighting with herself and matched Lena’s calm when she spoke again.

“First off, let me say I’m incredibly flattered,” she said, watching those sharp eyes make note of her tone. They seemed to see everything. Even the intention of a voice.

Lena knew Kara’s answer, yet seemed to await the rejection with interest.

For a moment, Kara felt lost again before remembering she’d only said half a thought. She had to finish it.

“This room is amazing,” Kara continued, meaning it. “I can tell this is really important to you, but having sex in a place like this with another woman just isn’t me. You make me _wish _it was,” she added with a sheepish look. “Believe me, there’s a part of me that selfishly wants to say yes and give this a try. But the truth is you’re looking at me saying you need sex without touch, and I’m looking at you as a professional who specializes in body alignment thinking you need touch with no sex.” She gestured up and down Lena’s posture. “If you’re not feeling chronic pain now, you will be soon. And prevention is always easier than recovery.”

An awkward silence that Lena made no attempt to fill. She just waited for Kara to continue, eyes unreadable.

“I think you’re stunning and have no doubt you’re amazing in bed,” Kara added when the silence was too much. “But how about we stick to being friends while I rehabilitate your body a bit? I promise you’ll thank me later.”

That got a brow popping. “Promise?”

“Totally,” Kara said with a smile. “And it’ll still give us a chance to get to know each other. I loved having dinner with you. I know you wanted tonight to end differently, but I didn’t come here tonight to become your sex slave. I came because I think you might actually need my services.” Kara watched those words land in jade eyes that seemed to consider them. “I don’t need more business right now. But, for you? I would make the time, and I will promise you right now that you will feel the difference.”

To her surprise, Lena’s eyes filled with humor and she let out a little laugh.

“What?” Kara said, feeling self-conscious. “Did I say something funny?”

Lena shook her head. “No. Timing is just a funny thing.”

“How’s that?”

Lena chewed her lip, seeming to debate her answer before giving in. “A few hours ago someone introduced me to a golf coach who insisted I get a minimum of two massages a week to work with him. I said I’d think about it, but I think we both know what I was really saying when I said that.”

Funnily enough, Kara did know.

Lena gestured across the table toward her. “Now here you are in my sex dungeon begging for a chance to massage me. It’s all a bit surreal, if I’m being honest. I hate golf and I hate massages, yet fate seems deadset on me allocating my nonexistent time to both.”

Was that a ‘yes’ Kara was hearing under all that annoyance? Because it kind of sounded like a yes.

Holy shit. Lena Luthor was totally going to be her client.

Holy fucking shit.

She’d done it. Kara could never tell a soul how, but she’d fucking done it!

“How about Tuesdays at 8:00, and Fridays at 6:00?” Kara said, jumping on the moment.

She knew that perfect brow was going to arch before it did. “That’s very specific.”

“I’ve given it some thought,” Kara replied with a smile.

Lena seemed to consider that. “It wouldn’t be long term. Only until the Christmas break. Then I’d be done.”

That’s what she thought. “We can accomplish a lot in three months. Want to start tomorrow?”

Lena’s head tilted. “Look at you having a shark’s instinct. I did not see that coming.”

Kara smiled. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“Good. Because it is.”

Kara couldn’t help but feel a little proud of herself as she watched Lena wrestle with what she was about to agree to. It was like watching someone consent not to each chocolate for a year.

Lena wanted to find another way through this. Kara could see it in her eyes along with a heavy dose of resignation.

The woman genuinely did not want a massage. That was all the proof Kara needed that the woman had never had a good one … which seemed impossible. Lena was crazy rich, and rich people got them all the time.

So how had Lena Luthor missed out on getting a good practitioner every time, or gotten bad ones to the point that she hated them?

Kara’s mind couldn’t quite wrap itself around that. All she could do was make sure that, come December, Lena Luthor would definitely be keeping their sessions in her schedule.

“Is that a yes?” Kara heard herself ask and nearly slapped her hand over her mouth. Because, whoa. That was way forward. That was, like, Lena-level forward and definitely more intense than Kara tried to be with people.

A slow smile curved Lena’s lips. “That depends on you.”

“On me?”

Lena nodded. “You see, we have an elephant in the room.”

“We do?”

Another nod. “The fact that I am a total lesbian with an intense crush on you. I’m going to like it when you touch me, and I might like it in ways you’re uncomfortable with.”

Oh, that?

“Trust me. It happens with guys all the time,” Kara said with a little wave. “Girls, too, actually. But so long as neither of us doesn’t anything to encourage or force it, I’m totally fine.”

Lena looked doubtful. “Are you sure?”

“Definitely,” Kara said with a little laugh. “If I didn’t massage anyone with a dirty thought or two, I’d only have, like, two clients. So I’m good. That’s no elephant in the room for me.”

Something flickered in Lena’s eyes, but Kara couldn’t tell what.

“Okay,” Lena replied, her tone sounding measured again … guarded. “Because my instinct is that, given how much the idea of being a sex slave freaked you out, I might be better off hiring someone at the golf club for my massages.”

Kara shook her head. “No. I’m good. I’ve dealt with kinkier.”

That seemed to interest her. “Really?”

“Oh, yeah. I’m 99% sure one of my clients likes to have his diaper changed as part of foreplay, and I know one of my other guys fucked the eye-hole of a jack-o-lantern last Halloween. If I can go zen and massage them, I promise you’re not going to be a problem.”

“Okay,” Lena said, looking thoughtful. “And you say you’ll do it here, Tuesdays and Fridays, 8:00 and 6:00, respectively?”

“Already cleared the time,” Kara said, sensing the finish line.

Lena seemed to be moving through invisible details in her mind. “Should I buy another table, or would you like to bring your own?”

Kara pointed to the one in the room. “What about that one? It’s strong enough I could do some Thai massage, too.”

“That bed doesn’t leave this room,” Lena pointed out.

“That’s fine.”

“It is?” Lena asked, looking confused. “You’d do massages in here?”

Kara shrugged. “It’s not like I’m looking anywhere but you anyway. And the lights will be dimmed.”

There was a beat where they looked at each other and seemed to process that.

“But you like the aquariums,” Lena pointed out. “We could get a massage table out there and you’d have a better ambiance.”

“Not during the massage,” Kara said, shaking her head. “I’d love to come early and hang out there sometimes, but the table you’ve got is amazing. It would be a crime not to use it.”

Lena seemed to struggle with that so Kara backed off. “But you’re the one getting massaged, so I want to be wherever you’re most relaxed. If you want to be out in the aquariums—”

“I don’t,” Lena said, her words sounding oddly like a confession. “I just don’t want you uncomfortable in here—”

“It’s just not my thing,” Kara corrected before Lena could finish. “That’s not the same as making me uncomfortable.”

There went the eyebrow. “Really? Because you looked uncomfortable earlier.”

“Yeah, but that was something different.” She looked around the room, focusing on the workmanship again. “Truth is, I dig the aesthetic you have going and am blown away by the workmanship. I’m so used to dealing with stuff made out of plastic and synthetics and stuff that breaks. Being in here makes me want to make a few pieces of equipment this strong for my own workouts. They’re so badass.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. All that is to say, this room doesn’t freak me out and I’d love to use your awesome table.”

“Okay,” Lena said, seeming to have trouble processing that for some reason. “Is it okay if I change in my room and wear a robe down, just so I’m not changing in here?”

“Sure,” Kara agreed, a little curious as to why Lena thought that might be a point of concern, but happy it was such a no-brainer on her side.

They were almost there—breaths away from the finish line!

“Okay,” Lena said with a nod.

Kara nearly jumped like a cheerleader. “Yeah?”

Lena looked at her and nodded. “Yes. I’ll give you a shot and see what my golf coach says.”

“Your coach? What about what _you_ have to say about the massages?” Kara teased.

Lena shook her head. “Irrelevant.”

“Irrelevant?”

“They’re either effective or ineffective, no matter how they feel,” Lena said, her expression reminding Kara of how Lena had acted during the Acro pitch. “If it’s working, I’ll continue with you. If it isn’t, I’ll switch to someone my coach suggests.”

“Oh.” Kara was quite sure she’d never felt more offended and motivated at the same time.

No one working at that damn golf club was better than her.

Not a chance.

Lena wanted effective and didn’t care if it felt good? Well, her mind was about to be blown because Kara was going to reset Lena’s body and make sure it all felt really awesome.

“In the meantime,” Lena added, looking like she was in full business mode. “You are welcome to come early and enjoy the grounds or aquariums. But I will ask that you leave immediately after each massage.”

“O-okay,” Kara stammered, both happy and put off for some reason.

“Also, please keep in mind that security is recording on all parts of the property at all times, except for inside this room and private parts of bathrooms. I’m sure you understand why that is necessary.”

“Totally,” Kara agreed, thinking of the fish. But considering how massive the estate was, there was probably more to protect than them.

“Good,” Lena said with a crisp nod. “Then I will instruct security to let you in anytime before eight on Tuesdays and six on Fridays, and we will meet outside the security door to here five minutes before the scheduled hour.”

Something in the woman’s tone signaled to Kara that she needed to be exact about that.

“Sounds good,” she agreed. “Starting tomorrow?”

There was a short hesitation from the woman, then a nod. “Yes. I can make that happen.”

Trying to bring things back to the more friendly tone they’d had at dinner, Kara wiggled her eyebrows and held up the papers again. “Are you going to need me to sign a contract with all this laid out?”

Lena shook her head, expression remaining impersonal. “No. Bringing you on as a contractor is fine for this. You don’t need to worry about me bringing up any type of personal contract again.”

There was a finality in the woman’s voice that sat oddly with Kara. “I don’t?”

“No. That would be harassment,” Lena replied, sounding more like her corporate self than the woman Kara had gotten to know at dinner. “I think you’ve explained your position quite well. I can respect that. From here on out, I’ll look forward to seeing if your efforts impact my golf game.”

Dammit. That wasn’t what Kara was going for. She liked laid back Lena way better than business Lena, yet somehow she’d ended up with the latter.

“For now,” Lena said, gesturing to the exit. “My driver will be happy to take you home.”

Oh. Just like that? They were done? It seemed pretty abrupt.

“Will you need a ride tomorrow?” Lena asked, distracting Kara from her mental search for a reason to draw things out.

“Me?” Kara shook her head. “No. I have a car. I’m good.”

“Excellent,” Lena said, looking like she’d already mentally moved on to something else as she started from the room.

There was nothing to do but follow. So Kara did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm posting 3 chapters a week, but I love kudos. So if you want me to post faster - starting now - I'll post a chapter for every 50 kudos. So if you want more, faster, you know what to do ;P


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look at that! +50 = BONUS chapter ... and maybe two, since this one is pretty darn short

Alex was reading—or, at least, fake reading—a book on the couch when Kara walked in the door. The moment she saw Kara, she popped out of her seat.

“So? How did it go?”

Oh, man. Kara had been hoping Alex would be out or distracted by something when she got back. No such luck.

“Hey there,” Kara said, smile bright as she hung her keys on their hook. “Good, actually. I’m going back tomorrow.”

Her face flashed with surprise. “Really? That’s awesome.”

“I know, right?” Kara said, crossing her fingers for show as she walked over to the liquor cupboard. “She’s signing up for two massages per week for three months—something to do with her golf game and correcting her swing.”

“Huh. That’s weird,” Alex said with a scrunched face. “She totally doesn’t strike me as a golfer.”

“She isn’t,” Kara said, remembering the look on Lena’s face when the topic came up—lip curled, nose crinkled—she had not looked happy. “But apparently she has a reason to not suck by Christmas, and her coach demands massage as part of smoothing out her stroke. If I can even that out, she’ll keep me on. So wish me luck.”

“Luck,” Alex replied, crossing her fingers.

Kara reached for the whiskey and pulled it out with two shot glasses. “Maggie coming over tonight?”

“Yeah, after knitting circle.”

What was it with the world and the knitting trend lately? Everyone was getting into it, and Kara couldn’t sit still long enough to get a single line done. “She’s still into that, huh?”

“Yep,” Alex said with a dopey smile. “It keeps her fingers strong and her nails short, so I’m fine with it.”

Kara set the whiskey and glasses down on the counter. “Ew. Overshare.”

“It’s the truth.”

“Well, glad everyone’s happy,” Kara said, pouring two shots.

Maggie’s New Year’s resolution last January had been to find a hobby. She’d been trying a new thing every month to see what stuck. So far, the only thing Maggie had kept at longer than eight weeks had been knitting.

Part of Kara suspected Maggie just liked being around different faces once a week. Not that she’d say that to her sister. Instead, she slid one of the shot glasses across the counter to her sister, who raised an eyebrow.

“Whiskey? On a Thursday?” she asked. “Since when is that your thing? I thought you said things went well with Ms. Luthor.”

“They did,” Kara said, downing her first shot. “But that doesn’t mean your boss isn’t _way_ intense. She totally made me ink. I need to unwind a bit.”

Alex’s head tilted with intrigue. “Ink?”

“Yeah. Like the octopus thing on _Finding Nemo_?”

“Oh, yeah,” Alex laughed.

Kara poured herself another shot. “I was the octopus and she was the shark. I swear that woman is fearless.”

“I totally believe that,” Alex said, holding up her glass for Kara to touch rims before they both tossed back their shots.

“Whew,” Kara breathed, setting down her glass and already feeling the alcohol getting to work. She was a bit of a lightweight. Two beers could make her stupid, not to mention two shots.

That said, she was definitely having two more.

“By the way,” Alex said. “Maggie is signing us up for bungee painting next month. Want to join?”

“Bungee painting?” Kara asked, pouring them each another. “Is that as interesting as it sounds?”

“Not sure. The pamphlet says you get a canvas, some brushes, and a bunch of paint. Then you’re attached to a bungee cord about twenty feet away from the canvas and you have to run at it while trying to paint something.”

“That sounds amazing,” Kara said, her smile already looser as she held up shot number three. “Sign me up.”

Alex picked up her shot. “I thought you might be in. I’ll add you to the tab. It’s forty bucks.”

“And a bargain at that,” Kara said before they both downed another shot.

Alex pulled a face and gave her head a little shake as she put the glass down again. “Can I ask how much we’re drinking tonight?”

“Definitely four shots for me,” Kara said, pouring another shot to make her point. “But you could talk me into six.”

“Really? Ms. Luthor was that bad, huh?”

A flurry of images all landed in Kara’s head at once—the damn family bull … Bitch Queen … the endless landscaping … aquariums for days … a-ma-zing food … drawers of dildos and the harnesses they all attached to … an actual rack to tie people to … hooks in the ceiling to suspend people from … an actual freakin’ slave contract Kara had signed an NDA promising not to talk about.

“It was memorable,” she decided before holding up the bottle to see if her sister wanted another shot. “What do you say? Want to be tipsy with me when Maggie gets here?”

“On a Thursday night?” Alex asked, looking hesitant for a beat before dropping into a laugh and pushing her glass toward Kara. “Sign me up, sis.”


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Happy Friday!

Lying face-up on her massage table with Kara working on her left arm, Lena was still on the fence as to whether hiring Kara to massage her was among the best or the worst decisions she’d made in her life.

Because, damn, the girl was good.

Really good.

Addictively good.

All while staying 100% professional.

Dammit.

Lena hadn’t been lying when she said she preferred not to be touched. She was so used to hands urging or asking or forcing another’s will onto her. But Kara’s hands were different. They just knew where to go without being told. And Lena had yet to feel that Kara wanted anything more than for her to relax—her motions never trying to push the mood into something it wasn’t.

Kara’s hands didn’t hold questions, but answers.

Lena wasn’t used to that. She’d also never felt better … which was somewhat alarming.

She wanted this.

“We’re reaching the end of our time,” Kara said, hand keeping contact as she moved to stand at the top of Lena’s head.

Lena opened her eyes, spotting the ceiling above her and blinking at the dim light as she prepared to send the woman away before she got up.

“Go ahead and keep your eyes closed,” Kara urged her. “I’m going to finish up on your neck and scalp. They seemed really responsive at the beginning of the massage so I think that’s a good place to end.”

That actually sounded a little perfect.

Lena let her eyes fall shut again. “You’ll get no argument from me.”

“Great,” Kara said, sliding a towel folded length-wise under the base Lena’s head to hold it up while her other hand worked the muscles from underneath.

“I have equipment that can do that for you,” Lena muttered, eyes still closed. “Then you could use both hands.”

“Sounds good,” Kara said softly. “You can show me next time.”

“M’kay.”

Lena was way too relaxed, yet the part of her brain obsessed with such things seemed to be taking a nap … in front of Kara. While part of Lena leaned into that, another part was anxious to prove she still had some semblance of control.

“We’re probably going over on time,” she muttered. It was a weak effort, to be sure, but it was a step to getting things back on the ‘normal’ track. Whatever that was anymore.

“Don’t worry about that,” Kara replied. “We’re almost done.”

“Two more minutes,” Lena muttered before giving herself permission to stop thinking. She’d set a timer on two minutes so many times in her life that she internal clock knew the timing down to the second.

If she could do a hundred things she hated for two minutes week-after-week, she could relax and feel good for the same amount of time. Her automatic timer would tell her when the time was up.

In the meantime, the feel of strong hands loosening the muscles in her neck before kneading up into her hair made Lena want to go to sleep right then and there.

Which she couldn’t do for obvious reasons.

But she wanted to.

Just like she wanted the seconds to pass more slowly … for time to suspend as she let herself fall into an unusual state of wellbeing.

Lena couldn’t remember feeling like this before—especially in someone else’s presence where they were clothed while she was naked. The power dynamic was all upside-down and yet her brain was fine with it.

Totally and blissfully fine.

Then her internal timer went off.

Lena almost didn’t say anything.

Almost.

But, in the end, she had to be a person of her word.

“It’s been two minutes,” she said, trying to open her eyes only to have them fall shut again.

That was definitely new.

“Wait up there, Little Miss Literal,” Kara laughed. “I’m not done with you yet.”

Lena grew still at the confident yet playful correction. “You’re not?”

“Not just yet,” Kara said, that chronic kindness in her voice causing an irregular beat in Lena’s chest. “I don’t think either of us are here to punch a clock. We’re here to achieve a state.”

Lena swallowed past a growing tightness in her throat. “What state would that be?”

“Stress-release and relaxation. And that doesn’t happen on a timer.”

No. It didn’t.

“So stay with me for another two minutes,” Kara said with a smile Lena could hear with her eyes closed.

Kara’s words sounded so soft—so authentically careful—that Lena found herself leaning into them against her better judgment.

“Let’s pretend for a second,” Kara continued in a gentle tone that was already too familiar, “that two minutes—on this table, and _only_ on this table—are however long we need them to be.”

The way Kara’s fingertips moved lightly up and through Lena’s hair made that seem like a very rational suggestion.

“Let’s say that two minutes is not a time, but a place that we reach together before calling a session complete,” Kara continued, her voice hypnotic at this point. “And let’s say that place is reached when you feel relaxed and serene, without a care in the world. Just for two minutes. And after we’ve found those two minutes, you can get back to conquering the world again.”

Damn, this girl was good for Lena’s ego.

Kara kept on talking about Lena like she was some superhero. She had a lot of responsibility on her shoulders, to be sure, but it didn’t make Lena a superhero. It made her a CEO. There was a difference.

Superheroes served values, while CEOs served a bottom line.

It wasn’t good to mix those two things up. It led to some seriously shattered illusions down the line.

“For two minutes, let everything else take care of itself while you remember what it feels like to feel totally relaxed and carefree.”

Lena actually laughed at that one. Very uncharacteristic of her, but it was funny.

“Carefree?” she echoed. “Pretty sure I don’t know what that feels like.”

“It feels like letting go and doing what feels good while knowing you’re totally safe.”

“I don’t know how to do that,” Lena admitted.

“You have to trust someone outside of yourself,” Kara replied. “In this case, you need to trust me.”

Lena didn’t like where this was heading.

“Think you can trust me for two minutes, Lena?”

She used her name, not Ms. Luthor, and Lena’s heart gave a few jerky beats. She was way too affected by this woman and had more than an inkling that it was going to bite her in the ass sooner rather than later.

But she answered anyway. “How would I do that?”

“You let go.”

“How?“

“By trusting yourself first,” Kara said with an innocence that stood at odds with the wisdom she was laying out. “It’s not a thing your mind knows how to think itself into. It’s something your body does on instinct. But only when you truly feel safe.”

Easier said than done, for sure.

“Sometimes that means crying or some other type of physical release,” Kara added, and Lena fought the urge to smile.

Yeah. Lena had something like that in her life—although she wasn’t the one freefalling into trust. Subs abdicated all their power to her. She created the space for others to let go by maintaining control.

That was Lena’s version of safe. Not getting a massage by a disinterested woman who made Lena want to touch back.

That was the opposite of safe.

“For some reason, trying to think of an example makes me remember this documentary I saw back in school about bears,” Kara continued, her hands seeming to work their magic as an afterthought. “Some researchers wanted to study bears and chased one down in a helicopter. The bear was clearly freaked—running for its life with no place to hide until they finally hit it with a tranq dart.”

Lena wasn’t quite sure where she Kara was going with all this. It wasn’t a relaxing story, and yet something about Kara’s tone definitely was.

“After it got hit, the bear ran until it passed out. Then the scientists landed, did their business of tagging it, and gave it a shot to wake it up before running back to the helicopter and taking off. And you know what the bear did next?”

“What?” Lena asked, not wanting to think too hard.

“It woke up running in a panic, just like it had been before it passed out. And it kept running until it felt safe,” she said, sounding like she really cared. There was a short pause, then, “I think it was while watching that bear I realized we humans don’t let our bodies release stress and unwind like that. We’re always trying to be in control. We’re always telling everyone we’re fine, even if we’re definitely not. We make our body stay still when everything inside of us is telling us to run. It’s not natural. We aren’t built for that, which is why we end up storing depressed energy in pockets around our body that can only release when we’re like that bear and run and run and run until we feel safe again.”

That was pretty much the opposite of how Lena approached the world.

Interesting.

“That’s one of the reasons I got into massage,” Kara confessed. “I can’t fix anyone, but I can open the portals for a short time and show them what healthy feels like for an hour or so.”

For a single heartbeat, Lena felt stupidly jealous of Kara being with others like this … talking to them like this. Being open like this.

Which was ridiculous.

Kara was her own person who could talk to whoever she wanted, however she wanted to.

Lena took a breath and let her jealousy go, letting herself enjoy the excellent job Kara was doing of messing up her hair instead.

Lena would love to return the favor.

Kara spent her days making people feel blissed out, but who was doing that for her?

Seriously. Who? Lena wanted to meet them.

Him.

Meet _him_.

Kara liked to be with men. Which really was a waste of such talented fingers in Lena’s mind. She’d felt every type of touch in her life, and she could count on one hand how many people she wanted touching her again.

Kara was on the top of that list. It wouldn’t even have to be sexual. It could be casual. It could be anything, and Lena would want it. She could say that for certain now that Kara’s hands had touched 95% of her body—everywhere but the interesting parts.

But if Kara carried the same confident touch into the fun spots, Lena was sure Kara could get her to redefine her list of favorite activities pretty quickly. And the new list would include anything Kara was doing in the moment.

Lena would follow this touch anywhere.

“Right there,” Kara said, a smile in her voice.

Oh, shit. She’d been caught.

“I like how relaxed you are right now,” Kara added. “Do you feel good?”

Good?

It was an adjective with so much wiggle room.

Did Lena feel good? Yes. Did she also feel half in love? Yes.

“Yeah,” she replied. It wasn’t a lie.

Kara let out a soft laugh. Lena wasn’t sure why and was curious what the woman was thinking. But she didn’t want Kara to see what might be visible if Lena opened her eyes in this state.

She might end up staring at the girl’s lips or something, and things could only get weird from there.

Or transcendently erotic.

But given how things had gone less than twenty-four hours before, Lena was banking on making things weird if she gazed up at Kara now, so she kept her eyes closed.

“Awesome,” Kara said, and Lena legitimately had no idea what she was talking about. “Then we’ll call where you’re at right now ‘two minutes’ and finish each session like this. Okay?”

Dear Lord, what had Lena gotten herself into?

Worse still, how could she refuse what had just landed in her lap?

“Okay.”


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So if you don't want to see Lena interact with anyone but Kara in a playroom, this may not be a chapter for you.
> 
> Otherwise, welcome a step further into Lena's world

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> +50 kudos = Bonus THANK YOU!!!

There was nothing mainstream about Lena’s choice of clubs, and no way to end up inside any of its three tiers by accident.

You had to seek it out. You had to know how to get in.

Tier one was a club for the curious. A bar for beginners. Most people were dressed in regular street clothes while regulars who were into exhibitionism gave the curious little peeks of what was commonplace if you leveled up.

Tier two served as the lounge for members—the space where people mingled and “scenes” were negotiated. Roleplay, relationships, and shared lifestyle rules were in place in an atmosphere where personas took center stage.

Tier three was the play area—mostly public acts, with a few private suites for non-exhibitionists, like Lena. Most people rented suites by the hour, but Lena owned hers and always entered via a private entrance.

Bondage play within the walls of the club always took place in three acts.

Act One consisted of negotiation and consent to play out a scene, with all language, tools, and actions pre-approved by all parties.

In Act Two, everything negotiated played out in a scene, with safe words or safe actions in place in case anyone decided they needed to stop.

Act Three was aftercare. Once the scene was over, often there were physical, emotional, or psychological needs that needed to be seen to. Sometimes that just meant giving someone a blanket and a bottle of water. Sometimes that meant cuddling for an hour. Sometimes that meant sobbing or doing some care with a First Aid kit.

Whatever the sub needed.

Because as much as everyone focused on the dom in S&M, it was the sub who was ultimately in control. Always. Subs called the shots. They picked the implements used on them, how they would be used, and for how long. They often picked the scenes and their themes, along with when and where they started and stopped.

Dominants facilitated and worked within the parameters requested but, technically speaking, they were not in control. They served. And that dynamic was just one of the reasons Lena preferred to meet with non-contracted subs at a club and not her home.

First, it was best that no one knew who she was.

Second, she could outsource Acts One and Three to other players. Dee, the owner, could pre-screen and negotiate scenes for her, then arrange to bring in someone who was a slut for aftercare to be waiting for the sub when the scene was over.

This meant Lena could walk into a scene, provide a service for someone who never got to see her face, then let them cuddle their hearts out afterward with someone who came to the club only wanting to cuddle and comfort others. Maybe it was the sub’s partner or maybe it was a stranger. It didn’t matter to Lena, so long as it was approved by both parties.

Once upon a time, Lena had done all three acts for her subs. Now she only did that for those under contract. She just didn’t have the time anymore, and part of being successful was knowing when to outsource.

But the truth was … she missed playing a part in Acts One and Three. She missed talking people through their goals and decompressing with them during aftercare. In her mind, it was important to know the mindset people were coming in with and how they responded afterward.

People could think they wanted something—they could negotiate all the details, show up, and muscle through—telling themselves they were strong—but there was a very literal aftermath that was important to witness in determining whether you were helping another person overcome a personal demon or pushing it deeper into them.

And Lena liked to know the difference.

She wasn’t, by nature, a sadist. But life had granted her a lot of power. And BDSM was the tool that had taught her the most about how that power could be both used and abused in the real world—limits and lines and boundaries that were appropriate for those exercising power with others at their mercy.

BDSM not only taught her a lot about herself and her own nature, but how happily a vast majority of people submitted power when they got to define the boundaries of it.

They got what they wanted while abdicating responsibility to the dominant player.

Being an employer wasn’t so different, and Lena’s leadership style had been carved by the explorations of sexual extremes. She hadn’t planned on that being the case when she got her MBA, but it was how things had played out.

Universities had taught Lena how the business world worked, but bondage had taught her how people worked.

Pleasure, pain, confession, validation, restraint, temperature, pressure, sounds, and pretty much anything else the mind could dream up had been begged of her at one time another.

She had the same question every time: Why?

Why did people want the scenes they wanted?

Why did they want them to start where they started?

Why did they want them to stop where they stopped?

Why did they want the tools they wanted?

Why did they want the marks they wanted?

Every person was different. Every day was different. Every scene was different.

Tonight was definitely different.

Usually, as Lena readied herself for a sub, she reviewed the scene contract waiting for her in her dressing room thoroughly, choreographing everything in her mind as she changed.

This time, all her mind wanted to imagine were blue eyes and quick smiles and lips that asked nothing of her.

Nothing.

Last night, Kara could ask for nearly anything and Lena would have granted it. And the girl had asked for a job—and not just any job. One she was really fucking good at. She’d proven that just a few hours ago.

Lena was so used to people begging her for things, and suddenly she felt like the beggar. She was the one who wanted to bribe and leverage and debase herself to get what she wanted.

Even if it was just a kiss.

She closed her eyes and imagined those lips for just a moment … how they stayed in a half-smile as a default, but grew slack and parted slightly whenever Kara stared into Lena’s eyes for too long.

It was the most seductive thing Lena had seen in her life, and she was pretty sure Kara didn’t even know she did it.

One thing Lena knew for sure: Kara liked to kiss and she was probably skilled at it. If her tongue was as half as talented as her hands, Kara would still be second-to-none compared any of Lena’s prior partners.

God, she wanted to know what those lips felt like against hers … and everywhere else after that.

But no was no.

Kara didn’t want her. She wanted a man.

And since life was nothing if not ironic, it made sense that Lena was the one who had a man waiting for her in her suite.

She’d already read through the contract. Simple enough. The man waiting for her was married, and his wife didn’t know about his kink. He’d been having basic sex with her the whole time they’d been together while indulging his kink with others and hiding the secret from her.

Tonight’s scene was about leaving marks that forced the conversation with his wife to see if she was open to moving into the lifestyle as his domme.

He’d picked his implements and his safety nets. It was Lena’s job to make sure he couldn’t hide or skirt a conversation when he got home.

His wife would find out tonight.

Maybe she would kick him out; maybe she would divorce him; maybe she would slap him around and find out how much he liked it.

Maybe a lot of things. A lot would depend on how he confessed.

But the contract stated that he didn’t have the courage to bring up the topic on his own. It had to be forced and he needed help with that.

Just like Lena needed some distraction to stop thinking about a perfect blonde with magic hands.

Because no was no, yes was yes, and life wasn’t fair.

Ever.

No matter who you were, life had a middle finger it fucked you with, and how each creature danced with the fuckery defined its life.

Lena knew that, just like she knew she had a choice: she could pine after a _no_ or play her part in a _yes_.

Standing in front of the full-length mirror, Lena closed her eyes and whispered, “Head in the game.” Then she opened her eyes again and took a look at herself in full domme apparel.

She had a very bad husband waiting for her. A liar who wanted to repent and tell the truth. But he needed help.

If Lena failed him, he would use it as an excuse to fail himself.

She turned to the dressing room door and opened it, walking out into her suite and finding the man chained to her St. Andrew’s cross—back facing her and naked, save for the cage around his cock.

If he got hard, he would be punished without Lena doing a thing.

“Someone’s been a naughty puppy,” Lena said, calling him by his preferred label as she walked over to the tools he had picked out: a flogger, an industrial wrench, and a whip.

“Yes, Mistress,” the blindfolded man replied.

Lena bypassed all of the implements and picked up a squeaky ball toy for small dogs. “There will be no safe words tonight. Open your right hand.”

“Yes, Mistress,” he said, immediately obeying.

She pressed the ball into his palm. “Hold this ball. Dropping it is your safe word. If there comes a time when you can’t hold on or you choose to let go, the scene ends and your aftercare slut will take you away. Do you understand?”

His hand squeezed tightly around the ball and it gave a little squeak. “Yes, Mistress.”

“You can squeeze it as much as you like if you like the sound,” she said, even though the real purpose of the squeak was to draw her attention when it bounced after being dropped. “Nothing you say will stop me. No scream will stop me. If you want me to stop, you drop the ball. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Mistress.”

“Good puppy,” she said, walking over to the flogger. “Now let me tell you what I’m going to do to you.”

He twitched in anticipation.

“First, I’m going to warm you up until I can roast a marshmallow on your back,” she said, picking up the flogger and spinning it so that the wind of its movement fanned his back. “Then I’m going to strike you ten times. You will thank me for each strike, and ask for the next one. Do you understand?”

He leaned into the cross, arms and legs spreading wider in eager submission while she continued to tease him with the fanning. “Yes, Mistress.”

“When I am done flogging you, you will be red from the bottom of your ass to the tops of your shoulders, and it will feel like your back is on fire. That is when I will bring out the wrench and add bruises to the fire.” She picked up the wrench a few inches and let it drop back to the tray with a clang to let him know it was there. “The bruises I leave will be impossible to miss. Sitting will be excruciating for days. Your ass and back will beg you not to, and there will be no way to explain this away to your wife. She will want to see your back, which is why I’m going to graze two letters into it with the whip.” He tensed at that and she let him move through the tension and relax back into the scene before adding, “An S and an M. They will be easy to read and you will have to explain to her what they mean to you and how you got them. This is what you’ve asked me to do, so this is what I will do unless you drop that ball. Do you understand?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

The next time the flogger arced down, she cracked it hard against his back, making him buckle slightly. “What do you call me?”

He knew the answer. It was a condition in the contract he had signed to be put into this position. He was to call her one thing and one thing only.

“Mistress,” he breathed, sounding happy for the punishment. He’d been testing her. “I’m sorry, Mistress. It won’t happen again.”

“Good puppy,” she said, moving a step forward so the light fanning could turn into light passes as she prepared his back and ass for what was to come.

For several minutes, she let the tails of the flogger do their work, until his arms and legs were a stark white against the pink of his back and ass cheeks.

Then she unleashed the first strike without warning.

It landed with a crack and the man cried out, his right leg buckling before he righted himself and called out. “One! Thank you, Mistress. May I have another?”

She teased his back with a few more light passes, each one in a different spot so he didn’t know where to expect contact. He leaned his weight into the cross, one hand gripping the chains binding him and the other gripping the ball as she cracked out the second strike.

He cried out this time, sagging slightly, but not entirely in pain. There was a relief in the motion that Lena recognized—a relief that he had an excuse to be weak … to crumble … to cry.

He probably didn’t allow himself to do that anywhere but in situations like this—extreme situations that gave him permission to be human.

Lena understood that.

“Two,” he said through a little whine. “Thank you, Mistress. May I have another?”

So it went until he had an “S” and an “M” carved into his back.

Twenty minutes later, the aftercare slut had him draped in a blanket before leading him to another room to cuddle and recover.

And, not for the first time, Lena felt a pang of jealousy as she watched him go—for reasons she couldn’t quite put a finger on.

Then she got control of herself and got ready for her next appointment.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara starts feeling a little twitchy with the status quo.

The last yoga student was heading out as Kara cued up her end-of-day cleaning playlist to celebrate Monday being over.

“Great class, Kara,” her last student called out, pushing her way out the door. “Thanks!”

“For sure, Angie!” Kara replied. “See you Wednesday.”

“Definitely!”

Then Angie was gone with the door clicking shut behind her.

Locked.

Kara would get the deadbolt later, but for now, it was cleaning time.

She pressed play, DJ Earworm’s _Blame It on the Pop _filling the overhead speakers. Because there was no point in mopping if you didn’t plan on dancing about it.

Playing to the beat, Kara made her way to the utility closet, filling the bucket from the faucet there and adding cleaner.

For a room full of cleaners, the closet sure did smell like mildew. Kara had informed the landlord of that fact many times, and the landlord said it was normal.

Since when was gross normal?

The whole place was a dump, really. Kara told herself that it wasn’t that bad since the floors were hardwood and she cleaned every day. But the fact remained that Kara was the one that wanted this little spot in a strip mall to sparkle a bit, so it was on her to make that happen. Not the landlord.

So she scrubbed.

The remix had Beyoncé telling Kara to put her hands up by the time she rolled the bucket out of the closet, and Rihanna was singing she should ‘live her life’ by the time the mop touched down.

Then Kara started going to town.

But, for some reason, the cleaning didn’t feel as cathartic as it usually did. The more she looked around, the more it just felt like she was polishing a turd that could never be more than it was.

As Dagny’s _Love You Like That_ came over the speakers, Kara stopped mopping and looked around with the same eyes she’d had the first time she and Jimmy had toured it. The water damage in the ceiling and walls … the flickering lights from failing wiring … the cracks in the front glass that had never been fixed, giving the place a ghetto vibe.

Because it was ghetto.

When she and Jimmy had started out, they’d been lucky to land the lease. They’d been as broke as this location back then. But that wasn’t the case anymore. They’d busted their tales and really moved up in the world.

Except they hadn’t. They were still in this ghost town of a strip mall that died in 2009 and never recovered. And it looked it.

She thought of Lena, feeling humiliation at the thought of asking her here for a massage in one of the back rooms.

No way.

A person could eat off the floor at the Luthor mansion. The air in Lena’s home was like taking a deep breath of negative ions at the beach, whereas Kara’s studio had an ever-present funk that daily mopping barely covered.

Kara had no idea how long she’d been lost in thought until Matisyahu’s _One Day _started playing over the speakers.

“What the hell are we still doing here?” she muttered to herself.

Most of their clients didn’t live all that close. Most made the effort to travel out to a suburb to get to them.

With one last look around the tired-looking room—with its peeling bone-colored wallpaper, chipped wall mirrors, and scratched-up wood flooring left over from the dance studio that had moved on before she and Jimmy snatched up the space—she pulled her phone out of her pocket and typed out a message to Jimmy.

_How much time do we have left on the studio lease? _

Then she got back to mopping until her phone vibrated in her pocket.

_Nov. Why? Wut u thinkin?_

_Upgrade time? _she typed.

_U @ work now?_

She sent him a thumbs-up emoji.

No response. Hmm. Maybe he was close?

She got to work, finishing the main floor and moving toward the reception area when she saw Jimmy’s headlights pull up in the otherwise dark, vacant parking lot. Kara leaned the mop against the reception desk and moved to open the front door so Jimmy wouldn’t have to pull out his keys.

“Thanks,” he said over the music as he stepped and Kara ran over to turn down Imagine Dragons down to conversational levels.

“Sorry,” she said when the music wasn’t blasting.

“No worries,” he said. “I was just on the Tindr date from hell and used your text as an excuse to bail.”

She wrinkled her nose, walking back toward him. “What was this girl’s deal?”

He shrugged. “She was just one of those chicks who knows two things about everything and wants you to lick her boots about it.”

Kara gave Jimmy’s arm a reassuring pat. “Alpha female seeking a beta male? That ain’t you, my friend. You’re all man.”

“I know, but that’s not a very cool quality to have at the moment. Women are all about men who bend over these days.”

“Bleh,” Kara said with an eye roll. “Why does anyone have to bend over? Why does it always have to be about power?”

“No clue,” he grumbled. “She asked me what I did for a living, and when I start to tell her, she interrupted and told me she didn’t need fitness ‘mansplained’ to her.” He shook his head. “I was just telling her the services we offered and suddenly I’m insulting her intelligence while getting overpaid in comparison to women.”

“Did you tell her that I charge more for massage and you charge more for personal training, but that we charge the same for group classes?”

He nodded. “Yes. After which you became complicit in your own oppression, or something like that. I dunno. I think that’s what she was saying. I kind of tuned out.”

Kara sent him a playful look. “Well, she might have a point. I am mopping the floor while you do nothing but stand and watch.”

He put his hands up like she had suddenly morphed into a cop. “Hey, you’re the one who wants it done every day, and I do it on your day off.”

“I’m just saying she might have a point,” Kara said with a playful wink.

Jimmy sighed. “Whatever.”

Kara laughed. “Well, the good news is, you’re never taking her out again.”

“That’s the truth,” Jimmy laughed. “It also put me close enough to claim I had to bail and come running at your text.”

“See?” Kara said, mopping. “It’s fate. We’re supposed to meet and talk right now.”

“Yeah?” he said, giving the space a quick once-over. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking it’s time to ditch this dump and look for better options in a more central location where we can actually brand and decorate,” Kara replied. “How about you?”

“I think if our location was better, we could charge more.”

Kara nodded and glanced out to the parking lot. “Maybe go somewhere there is actual foot traffic. Maybe lifestyle shops that match our offerings?”

He smiled one of those sexy smiles of his and, for some reason, Kara’s mind jumped to Lena saying that if she was really straight she would be tempted to do something with that smile.

But that was stupid.

The relationship Kara and Jimmy had was so much better than whatever might come from hooking up. It wasn’t that Kara didn’t see how hot Jimmy was and feel the draw. It was just that she wanted other things more.

There was nothing gay about that. Kara just had priorities.

“I like where your head’s at,” Jimmy said, bringing her thoughts back into the conversation.

“So you’ve been thinking about it, too?” she asked.

“I mean, you’ve always been the one saying it since day one,” he said. “But after coming out ahead on last year’s taxes, I started noticing stuff I’d be happy to stop dealing with here. I didn’t feel strongly enough to bring it up, but we have to renew here in the next 90 days, so if you’re thinking about moving, we should talk.”

“I say we look around,” Kara said without hesitation. “Better location, with the option to decorate, in a better part of town.”

Jimmy nodded. “Okay. Then let’s look around and see what we see.”

“Seriously?” Kara squealed, doing a little dance with her mop.

Jimmy nodded. “I think we’re finally on the same page. And I think we can afford it.”

“Dude,” she said, not even trying to hide her enthusiasm. “We are going to find the sweetest spot. I can already feel it.”

“I hope so,” Jimmy replied. “Otherwise we’re in this dump for another year.”

Kara grimaced. “No. Let’s _not_ do that. I think my soul might die a little.”

“Mine, too, to be honest.”

“Yeah?”

After all their conversations over the years, Kara knew Jimmy’s nods really well. And this one was all-in. “Yeah. Let’s start looking.”


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena would also change a few things ... given a chance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> +50 = bonus 🥰😘

Lena’s Tuesday was not going well, thanks to her brother and a big-wig asshole named Anders.

The latter sat across from her—lawyers flanking him to make sure he didn’t say anything incriminating as he pushed her to sign a contract that would fuck her right up the ass someday.

The “deal” Anders was offering was for Lena to break the law on his behalf while granting him plausible deniability of not knowing why his product was being sourced and what L-Corp was using it for.

Not on her watch.

Lena pushed the proposal back across the conference table, saying the words the Anders’ lawyers wouldn’t let him say. “This is illegal and unconscionable, Mr. Anders. I’m sure you understand that I must refuse.”

Anders pushed the contract back her way. “It’s what Lex and I negotiated when I visited him.”

She pushed the contract off to the side, out of both of their reaches.

“I wasn’t there and I never agreed,” she replied, not budging.

“Lex said you’d honor it.”

“Then he misspoke.”

The man’s expression morphed into pure incredulity. “Excuse me?”

“Lex misspoke. Your deal isn’t happening under my watch.”

A vein appeared near his temple, pulsing up the side of his forehead. “I have your brother’s word.”

“Then he can deliver on it.” Lena stood from her chair. “When he returns to the company. I won’t be signing on to anything that remotely resembles the current proposal.”

“I need this _now_,” Anders said, stabbing the tip of his finger into the table to add weight to his claim.

One of the lawyers touched his arm, indicating that he should not say more.

“Then you should have dealt with me directly,” Lena told him. “Not with my brother, behind my back.”

“We both know he’s the boss.”

“Not at the moment,” she said, her eyes daring the lawyers to disagree with her. They didn’t. “I am. And I don’t appreciate that you flew out to see my brother on his current tropical island to negotiate this, then had _me _fly to _you_ so you could treat me like my brother’s bitch.”

He didn’t even try to deny it. “Lex will be very upset if you let this deal go. He owes me.”

“Then Lex can get his legal affairs in order and come back to the company to do this favor for you,” she shot back. “Right now, Lex has no affiliation, say, or power in any of the business decisions of L-Corp.”

“We both know that’s a technicality. He can’t be listed as CEO until his charges clear.”

“Yes,” Lena agreed. “The CEO would be me.”

The man’s fist clenched, his jaw tightening as he sent Lena a stern look. “I don’t appreciate how difficult you’re making this.”

“That sounds like a personal problem.”

The vein turned full blue against his fair skin. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me,” Lena said, gathering her things. “I did you the honor of coming to you for this meeting. That will never happen again. My brother looks forward to working with you when he returns to L-Corp. Until then, we have no business.”

“That is unacceptable.”

“It is my answer.”

“I will be speaking to your brother.”

“Be sure to compare dick sizes while you’re at it.”

His jaw dropped, visibly appalled. “After which, I’ll be speaking to your father to let him know what a mistake he’s making letting his irrational, _adopted _daughter run the company, rather than coming out of retirement himself to do things right.”

Lena smiled, already imagining how that call would go. “It sounds like you have some calls to make, Mr. Anders. I’ll leave you to it.”

She had a jet to catch to get to an appointment at 8:00 she didn’t plan on being late for. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos & comments are soul food!


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ... and a bonus chapter as a charm ... just to get our ladies back in the same room.

Kara had spent the previous night literally dreaming about what her new gym would look like when it opened. In black-and-white. She’d seen everything but the colors.

In her dreams, the new space had been split—with a gym area for personal training off to one side of the entry and the rest remaining open for group classes.

To her surprise, Kara had seen equipment for trapeze yoga and aerial silks hanging from the ceiling—two things she currently paid to do at other gyms. Both gyms had offered to hire her to teach. She’d never said yes because it was a conflict of interest with her own gym and the money they offered couldn’t compensate for the money she would lose for the three business hours she’d take to teach a one-hour class elsewhere.

But if she and Jimmy got a new gym with an industrial ceiling, Kara could teach trapeze and silks there, along with traditional yoga.

The more she thought about it, the more the dream solidified into a vision.

It would be a large investment. Kara knew that, but the market was there. She saw it every day and she’d talked to enough other yoga instructors over the years to know the challenges and pitfalls of what she’d be taking on.

And she wanted to do it. All of it.

But if she was going to pull it all off, she and Jimmy couldn’t just move into a new space and keep things like they were—low-key and unofficial. They had to have a vibe … a look … a brand. They needed a logo and merchandise. They needed a location that was a destination where competitions and events could be held, not some hole-in-the-wall.

That was a lot to figure out in 90 days, but Kara was determined to pull it off.

Which was one of the rationales she’d given herself for heading to Lena Luthor’s place a little bit early. She sat alone, on one of the benches in the basement, watching tropical fish swim by.

“You’re super pretty,” she said to a pink, yellow, and black fish. “But my partner is totally not going to let pink fly as a brand color. He’ll say it’s too ‘girly’, even though you’re probably a boy fish.”

Another fish swam into sight, the front half pink and the back quarter of it orange.

“You, too, sexy. Your colors would look great on a sign, but my partner might lose his man card if we go that direction, so I can’t use you either.”

She leaned back on the bench, giving herself a wider view again to see what other colors caught her eye. Her eyes landed on a blue, white, and black one.

“Jimmy would really like you. And, I’ll admit, you look awesome. But I don’t want that much of a masculine vibe. It’s too dark. So we’ve got to find a compromise here, you guys. I’m cool with blue or green being in the mix, but Jimmy’s not going to go for any shade of pink, and I’m not feeling red. So we’ve got to come up with a solution that works for everyone here.”

Yes, Kara talked to herself. And these days, she apparently spoke to fish as well. It helped her stay focused when she was in the middle of a conversation that needed finishing.

She really needed to figure out her color scheme so she could start drawing up her new studio. Blueprints meant nothing to her. But colors and shapes did, so she needed to figure those elements out as soon as possible.

“Yes, I see you, clownfish,” she said, watching the real version of the Nemo swim past her. “You’re the only one here I know the name of. But your colors would make people think we were a sorbet store or something, and that doesn’t work. We’d always have kids pawing at the windows, and that would be a pain to clean.” She shook her head. “I like kids and all, but not enough to not have kid prints all over my windows. I’m kind of a nerd about keeping things clean. My partner thinks it’s a disorder, but he still has wrappers from last week’s take-out on the floor of his car. So I’ll let you decide which of us has cleaning issues.”

A yellow-and-white one swam by.

“You make me think of pie, which is something my sweet tooth totally doesn’t need. But I’m kind of running short on options here because all the ones I think—hmm.”

A new one swam by. One color.

“Silver,” she mused. “Would that work? We could go super high-end and do black, white, and silver?” She let that simmer a bit. “But silver is second place, so shouldn’t we do gold?”

She pictured that for a moment and shook her head.

“Way too pretentious.” And expensive. And a little Trump-y. “No metallics.”

She needed colors for a gym, not a hotel or an escort service. Their brand colors should be colors equipment came in and good colors for merchandise and stuff.

Kara knew Jimmy would want blue or green in the color scheme without even asking. The question was, what colors to add to one of those?

The blue-and-yellow fish looked really cool, but Kara didn’t like that as a color scheme. It reminded her of gymnastics and swimming pools.

Maybe if they went for a lighter blue and more of a sunshine yellow?

Hmm. That was a possibility.

“What do you think, guys?” she asked the fish in general. “Do we go bold, or is there some room for softer colors in the mix? If you have an opinion, please feel free to swim by and make it known.”

“Sorry to interrupt,” a cool, familiar voice said gently. But the soft tone didn’t do anything to keep Kara from jumping out of her seat.

“Holy cow!” she breathed. “I totally didn’t hear you.”

“Sorry,” Lena said, standing several feet away in a silk burgundy robe. “But it’s five-til-eight.”

“Right,” Kara breathed. She’d totally lost track of the time … while talking to a bunch of fish. Because she was cool like that. “I was just…”

Lena’s eyebrow quirked up as if she was genuinely interested in the rest of that sentence.

“Jimmy and I are thinking of moving our gym to a better location and relaunching,” she said, feeling herself tripping into ramble. “Doing that would mean we could, like, actually brand and paint the gym and stuff, which would be so cool. Our current spot is kind of … well, yeah, let’s not even mention it.” Yep. She was totally rambling and it was time to start massaging, so she needed to cut to the end. “Anyway, point being, I need to figure out colors sooner than later. And who better to help me with that than fish, right?”

Lena nodded, her eyes narrowing with one of those expressions Kara hadn’t quite have figured out yet. “They are good muses.”

They were, but Kara felt stupid getting caught talking to these ones. Why did Lena always seemed to catch her in embarrassing moments?

“Totally. So thanks for letting me come over early,” Kara said, trying to find some composure. “I’m kind of feeling blue and yellow, and hating red. Nothing feels right, though. There’s a reason to poo-poo everything.” Dear God, did she just say _poo-poo_ in front of Lena Luthor? What the hell was wrong with her? “I’ve spent all day looking at different options and nothing’s sticking. So, if you have any thoughts, my ears are open.”

She expected Lena to brush the request off and move straight to the door, but she didn’t.

“You could experiment with adding a secondary color to the two primary colors you’re considering,” Lena replied. “If you want one color representing you and the other representing Jimmy, you could make your third color representative of your shared commitment to customers. Orange for passion and results; green for healthy lifestyle and balance; purple for wisdom and higher living.”

Whoa. Kara probably should have written that down.

“What results do you and Jimmy bring to the table?” Lena asked. “What do your clients leave with after their time with you? Play with a secondary color based on that and see if anything fits.”

It all sounded so simple when Lena said it.

So obvious.

“That’s seriously so perfect,” Kara said. “Where did you learn that?”

“I speak fluent corporate bullshit,” Lena said with a dismissive smile before gesturing toward the door. “Now, c’mon. It’s too chilly to just be wearing this robe down here, and you owe me a massage.”

She was right about the robe. For sure. The silk framed Lena’s breasts in fearless detail, outlining her chilled nipples to perfection. Kara was trying to not look, but she kind of, sort of couldn’t look away.

Kara was about as flat-chested and slim-hipped as they came, while Lena was all woman. Top to bottom.

Kara wanted to be jealous, but the truth was, given a chance, she wouldn’t change of thing. Lena was perfect just how she was and boobs that size would only get in Kara’s way with the physicality of all the stuff she liked to do.

Plus, she had great legs and a great ass so it wasn’t like she was working with nothing when she wanted to catch someone’s eye.

All in all, full breasts were better served on someone like Lena. Kara would just strap them down all day anyway.

“Right,” Kara said, forcing her eyes up. “Let’s see if I can help you out as much as you just helped me.”

“Let’s,” Lena said before leading the way to the other room.

And maybe—just maybe—Kara watched that hourglass ass sway a time or two before following after.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos, comments, and ... ko-fi? I seriously want to make a graphic novel (or illustrated one, at least), but I need to get an advance together to entice an artist who needs to feed a family.
> 
> Any ideas on how to do that are totally welcome.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 30 seconds of the next morning. Doesn't count as a chapter.

The next, morning, Kara pushed through the break room door at work, holding about three too many things in her arms. She made it to the table in the room quickly, dropping everything on it before gathering up items that needed to go in the fridge.

Chicken with rice for early lunch, tilapia with rice for late lunch, and snap peas, carrots, and apples for all the times she got hungry in between.

Kara really needed to get one of those zip carriers Jimmy had. Organization was a good thing. Juggling food through doors every day was less ideal.

Halfway to the fridge, she spotted a piece of paper stuck to it under a magnet. As she got closer, she saw it was a commercial listing for a property downtown.

She knew the spot. There was a Whole Foods in the outdoor mall, along with the nearest Lululemon store.

Whoa. Kara had been thinking big, but not _that_ big.

Jimmy had written a note on the listing.

_Look what I found. _

_Made an appointment to see it during your lunch hour today. _

_(Both of us have that hour open.)_

_You in?_

_-J_

“Yes!” she said just as one of her apples dropped to the ground and bounced across the tile and into the corner.

Gross.

She really did need to get a little more organized and invest in a lunch bag.


	18. Chapter 18

ONE

MONTH

LATER

The latest potential property for the new studio felt like a cleaned-out call center. Large and sprawling, with gnarly, one-ply carpet that was maybe blue … or grey … or something. Kara wasn’t going to take the time to figure it out.

Whatever the color was, she wasn’t doing downward-facing dog on it. Not even on a mat. Nothing that had been on this floor should be rolled up into itself afterward. It was just gross.

“I hate it,” Kara said to Jimmy, too tired to list the reasons why. That game had gotten old about two weeks ago.

“It’s better than where we’re at now,” Jimmy said, sounding just as tired.

“Barely. If we move here, we’ll lose 80% of our clients and still be in a dead part of town.”

Jimmy sighed, giving up the role of devil’s advocate without much of a fight. “Yeah. It sucks.”

“I want that first place you found,” Kara pouted. “It was perfect.”

“Yeah, but they do everything by committee over there. Whoever gets the lease will have to be voted in by the Board.”

“Is it too much to ask that we get it?” Kara griped. “It’s perfect for us and we’re perfect for it. Can’t they see that?”

“We’ll find out when they vote, I guess,” Jimmy said, sounding far from hopeful. He thought the space would be going to a large franchise, not a local startup. He’d said as much multiple times.

But one of them had to be optimistic.

Kara brought her chin up, refusing to let this latest building ruin her spirits. “Well, they’re going to vote for us. I know it.”

“We need a backup, just in case, or we’ll be where we’re at another year.”

Kara shook her head. She couldn’t take another year there. “We should add more cool things into the business plan we provided for the committee. I’ve started hanging with this slackline crew at the beach and it’s way cool. We could make a raised pit in the studio and let people practice their balance over a foam pit.”

Jimmy shook his head. “I don’t think throwing in more gimmicks works in our favor at this point. Messing with our application now just makes us look fickle.”

He was right. Probably.

“We’ve already promised them silks and trapeze yoga,” he said. “A slackline over a foam pit won’t tip the balance if they’re looking for something else.”

“I know,” Kara grumbled. “I just wish they weren’t taking so long. I really need to know if I need to stop decorating the space in my head. I’ve got more ideas for that than I do for a wedding at this point and it’s getting out of control.”

“But are you sure you want to say no to this place in the meantime?” he asked, looking around at the clear, open space with about twice the square footage than they were currently working with. It was within their budget.

“It’s a no from me,” Kara said. “Tons of space in a terrible location.”

Jimmy hesitated, then nodded. “Agreed. On both counts.”

“Do you want me to tell Bree?” Kara said, looking over to where their agent was talking on her phone, waiting for their answer. “I don’t mind playing bad cop.”

Jimmy considered that for a moment, then shook his head. “Nah. I know you’ve got to run to your Friday Luthor appointment. I’ll finish up here.”

“You’re awesome,” Kara said, checking the time.

4:45.

She’d be about 45 minutes early to Lena’s if she left now, and that was how she liked it.

The sun was going down earlier and clocks were about to be set back, so Kara was getting down to her last days wandering through the labyrinth before the shifting seasons had her spending more time with Bitch Queen and her friends.

Lena had been right that first day; the octopus acted proud … regal ... like she owned the place. She seemed to listen when Kara talked, too. Why that made her feel special, she wasn’t sure. But it did. So Kara talked to her every time … asking about her day … telling the Bitch Queen about hers.

It was like free therapy in a weird way, which was why she jumped on Jimmy’s pass to get on the road, waving as she walked out the door and leaving him with Bree.

She had a sense the two of them might want to get their flirt on and catch dinner together anyway. Kara would just get in the way of that. It had been a while since Jimmy had really found someone to connect with. If he and Bree were vibing, she was all about clearing a path.

Gross carpet already forgotten, Kara unlocked her car while noting the sun’s position in the sky to see how much daylight she’d have by the time she got to Lena’s. The fiery ball was still well above the horizon … glowing a little too red, thanks to some wildfire somewhere.

Kara sent up a little prayer that the blaze would be put out soon.

Fires this late in the season always made her a little sad. She just pictured all the squirrels and other creatures that had stored up food diligently over the summer, losing their stashes in one hot blow.

Even if they got away from the flames, what did they eat all winter, and where did they live?

Kara didn’t know, and it made her sad if she thought about it too long. So she started her car instead and pumped up the music.

Marc Anthony’s _Vivir Mi Vida_ cued up—a perfect song to take her mind off homeless squirrels as she got on the road.

Her foot was a little heavy as she drove to the mansion. It always was. That place was an oasis Kara still couldn’t believe she had access to. Same went for the woman who owned it.

Lena Luthor was so freakin’ cool.

Like, insanely so.

They’d started talking during their sessions—only when Lena initiated, of course. And Kara wasn’t ashamed to admit that she’d gone long on time more than once just to hear the woman finish a thought or a story.

She could always blame the extra time on the “two minutes” even though it didn’t take that long to get Lena there anymore. Sometimes Lena was fully relaxed before Kara even finished saying that they were entering the last two minutes.

It was kind of cool, but also bummer since it signaled the end of their session.

At the next red light, Kara brought up her phone and cued up the song she always thought of when the Lena’s name came up. _Short Skirt, Long Jacket._

Hell, yeah.

Dancing in her seat, Kara hit the freeway singing along. Traffic wasn’t terrible yet, allowing Kara to make great time as she cruised to the Luthor estate.

She exited the freeway with _Going the Distance _blasting loud, but she didn’t turn it down until Lena’s main gate came into view.

Then she turned it down.

“Hey, Javi,” she said with a bright smile as she turned in. “How’s books?”

“Good. Mid-term’s on Friday,” he replied, leaning out of the guard’s box to return her smile.

“You’ll ace it.”

“I don’t know about that.”

“I do,” Kara teased. “You study way too hard to get any other grade.”

“Tell my professor that,” he replied.

“Give me his number and I will.”

He laughed and Kara couldn’t help but smile. Javi had one of those contagious smiles. If he was happy, anyone else around him was bound to be happy, too. He just had that energy about him.

A moment later, the gate started opening in front of her.

“Headed to the gardens?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she pouted. “As soon as daylight savings hits it’s going to be dark when I get here.”

“I still don’t understand daylight savings,” Javi said. “We don’t have that in my country.”

“Well, your country is smart. All it does is mess up with your circadian rhythms twice a year. It’s stupid.”

“Agreed,” he said as the gate finished opening. “Enjoy.”

“Thanks!” Kara said, giving him a wave as she drove in, her mind registering that she’d technically just spoken with someone in a “slave” contract with Lena, even though it really wasn’t much more than an employment contract.

She’d finally dared to ask him about it a few weeks ago.

Yes, he was a “slave.” And, yes, he was totally cool with it.

Javi lived on the property, had meals provided, and his tuition covered in exchange for fulfilling labor requirements to maintain and protect the property. On top of that, he got spending money for non-provided needs.

His current contract ended three months after he graduated, with the option to renew or move on to other full-time ventures.

All-in-all, Kara had never met a happier “slave.” Lena was even helping him get citizenship, which Javi seemed way excited about.

Kara also squirreled out of Melly that she’d renewed her contract with Lena three times. Melly was still eyeing the possibility of opening a restaurant, but she felt she might be getting too old to step back into that level of daily stress.

Cooking for Lena every day, while catering the occasional party, was working really well for Melly, so she wasn’t feeling too itchy about leaving.

By all accounts, Lena was a very good “master.” It was something Kara didn’t doubt at all, even as she wished Lena used a different word for it all. The terms were just so loaded with other meaning. Especially when it came to sex.

Parking in the roundabout, Kara’s playlist was replaced with the happy chirp birds when she turned off her car. In the distance, the buzz of someone trimming a hedge cut through the otherwise serene silence.

Kara hopped out of her car, taking the front steps by two and walked through the front door without knocking.

The massive door flowed opened without a squeak. The thing had to weigh a ton, but it opened with almost no effort. But that didn’t mean it didn’t close again with a little bit of a boom in the marble entry.

Following the boom, came nothing.

Silence.

No music. No footsteps. No voices.

Nothing but a whole lot of empty. And the weird thing is that it sounded the same whether Lena was home or not. The woman made no sounds and Kara had yet to find a single piece of evidence that the mansion was actually her home. A favorite chair? A pile of mail? A picture that was anything beyond a family portrait?

Every time she visited, she tried to find something that gave a hint into something about Lena’s life and what she did when she wasn’t getting massaged.

And all Kara found was a whole lot of well-displayed quiet.

The contrast made Kara aware of how much she surrounded herself with sound. Music during her massages, music and talking during classes, and dance music blasting everywhere she drove.

She even played a white-noise machine in her room at night to drown out the sounds of Alex and Maggie doing it in the other room.

Not that it worked all that well.

But still, her life was filled with noise. Everywhere. All the time.

Except when she came to Lena’s.

Lena’s world was quiet. So quiet. Which should have felt peaceful, but there was something sad to it all that Kara couldn’t quite put her finger on.

She made her way to the rear exit of the house but ended up stopping in front of the large window, spellbound by the view of the red glow of the evening sky with Lena’s fountain and labyrinth in the foreground.

So gorgeous.

Kara pulled out her phone and took a few shots. Lena didn’t want her posting anything publicly from her house on social media, which Kara totally understood. But the picture was way too cool to pass up to keep to herself.

She just wouldn’t post it.

After taking a few more shots, Kara stayed where she was, watching vivid colors fade into greys as the sun set. It meant missing her chance to go into the gardens, but it was totally worth it.

“You ready for our session?” that familiar voice asked from behind her.

It was how Lena appeared nearly every time, and Kara still jumped.

“Holy shit, you’re quiet,” Kara said, pressing her hand to her racing heart as she took note of the robe Lena always wore down to their sessions.

The marble floor must be a little cool based on the fine silk outlining her breasts. Kara had seen them outlined by sheets and silk plenty of times now.

Enough to know that Lena was losing weight.

Part of her wanted to ask about that to see if it was healthy weight loss, or a result of the insane schedule Kara had noticed the woman kept.

Not that it was any of Kara’s business … and not that dropping weight made Lena any less gorgeous. She was as stunning as ever. Yet, when Kara got her hands on her, she couldn’t help but think that Lena felt quite frail … fragile.

It made her worry a bit.

“Sorry,” Lena said. “I wasn’t trying to be quiet.”

“I know.” She never was. It just came naturally. Kara gestured to the stairs. “Shall we?”

Lena nodded. “One request?”

“Yeah?” Kara replied, feeling nervous for some reason as stood across from her, staring into those faded shades of green catching the last of the evening’s light.

“I have an event later this evening,” Lena said. “Can we avoid anything involving touching my hair? It would be best if I didn’t need to re-wash it.”

What a surprise. Lena would be working on a Friday night. Or maybe she had a date.

“Of course,” Kara said, smile big. “If you’re in a hurry, we’d better get started.”

“Indeed,” Lena said, before leading her downstairs.

Bitch Queen paced them as they descended the stairs, but this time all Kara could do was offer her a wave as she wondered where Lena might be heading on a Friday night.


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> +50 = Bonus Chapter 😘

Another day, another fundraiser.

Lena usually just sent a check, but she actually believed in this cause so she was making an appearance.

Hundreds of people filled the reception hall, formally dressed in evening wear matching their genders rather than their sexes. Happy conversations echoed off the walls from same-sex and opposite-sex couples, along with all the couples who were dressed more non-binary.

Watching the festivities, Lena took a sip of her drink—way too weak on the alcohol—and tried to lean into the carefree vibe.

As far as fundraisers went, the local event for homeless LGBTQ youth was checking all the boxes. Classy visage, above-average eats, and free champagne with other drinks available for purchase at the bar. Weak drinks, yes, but most people forgave that from a fundraiser by telling themselves the money saved on serving decent drinks went to the children.

Maybe that was true.

Lena was more of the mind that skrimpers skrimped everywhere. If they were willing to cheat someone bigger than them on something so little as a drink because they had a narrative that would let them get away with it, how much more likely are they to pull the same stunt on someone weaker?

But it wasn’t Lena’s foundation and she wasn’t here to judge.

She was here to drop off a check and raise visibility on her way to the airport to fly back to London for the first time since the thirteen-gun debacle.

Until then, she was shaking hands. Lots of hands. Every one of them wanting something more than what she had already donated.

A job.

An investment in a new foundation.

Her outrage at a recent news story.

Venture capital for a dream with no proof of concept.

Something.

A party could never just be a party when people knew you had money. Socializing always came with as many angles as faces.

“Just a tragedy,” a man off to her left was saying. “Over 40% of our homeless youth identify as LGBTQ. You would think those numbers would be going down, not up.”

It was the hot topic of the night and a conversation she’d already had five times in the past hour, so she let the others around her take this round as she glanced at the clock.

Thirty-five minutes until she needed to leave for the airport.

“Ms. Luthor,” a male voice said, coming up from behind. “So glad you could make it.”

She turned and faced the silver-haired man, Leon Lamm, from the Board of Trustees.

“Mr. Lamm,” she replied, extending her hand. “Good to see you.”

“You, as well,” he said, shaking her hand with a firm grip. “Thank you for yet another sizable donation.”

“Of course. This is obviously an issue I care about.”

Leon nodded emphatically. “It helps so much to have someone as visible as you here locally and supporting, where everyone can see you.”

“Happy to,” Lena said, sensing an ask coming up.

“Would you mind taking a few pictures for the website—maybe even to release to the press?”

“Of course,” she said, signaling a server to take her drink from her.

The press wasn’t often interested in her, but when they were, it was usually when the adjective “lesbian” was involved. They seemed content to explain all her business accomplishments away by citing her elite upbringing, favorable markets, or strong supporting staff.

When it came to all things professional, media outlets shied away from highlighting her. But when it came to insinuating Lena Luthor fucking other women, they always wanted a picture.

She used to fight it.

Sometimes she still did.

But not at an LGBTQ fundraiser for homeless teens. They could have their damn pictures.

“Right this way,” Leon said. “There are some people who are excited to meet you.”

Lena deposited her drink on a tray with a polite thank you before following Leon as he weaved them through the crowd toward a cis-gender couple who were as unapologetic about their normalcy as everyone else around them was about their nonconformity. The man wore a custom tuxedo, with a long tie tucked under a matching vest. The wife was squeezed into an elegant red gown that put her every curve and contour on display—each and every one a pleasure to look at.

“The Stoddarts have been pivotal in pulling off this gala,” Leon explained. “They were both excited to see you RSVP.”

As if sensing Leon talking about them, the couple turned their way, both of them smiling brightly with a flash of sly when they caught Lena’s eye.

She knew that look. The Stoddarts were into threesomes.

Lena smiled as if she didn’t notice, allowing Leon to introduce them all.

“Stephen, Eleanor,” he said, gesturing first to them and then back to Lena. “I’d like you to meet our largest donor of the evening, Lena Luthor. Lena, this is Stephen and Eleanor Stoddart. They own and manage several downtown properties, including the facility for homeless youth that will be receiving some of the funds you donated tonight.”

Lena reached out and shook both their hands, noting that it was Eleanor who held eye contact the longest. “Good to meet you both.”

“You, too,” Stephen said. “We’ve actually been trying to cross paths with you for a while. You can be quite elusive.”

That wasn’t entirely an accident. “Well, glad it worked out this time.”

“We’ve been interested in trying to lure you into opening a storefront for the surf apparel line you have,” Stephen said. “We think it would be a great fit.”

“For which property?”

“The downtown marketplace.”

Lena nodded, actually considering the idea. So far, her only storefronts were in resort hotels, but it could make sense to put one in the high-end mall of her hometown.

“I really like what you’re doing with that space,” Lena replied, skirting an actual answer. “It’s becoming more of a lifestyle location than a mall.”

“That’s our goal,” Eleanor said, flashing her husband an I-told-you-so look.

“We were contemplating selling the property back in 2011,” Stephen explained. “But Eleanor here had a vision, and I have to say she was right. The ‘healthy living’ market isn’t going anywhere.”

“No, it isn’t,” Lena agreed. “Few things are more pivotal to success in life than a healthy body.”

“Amen to that,” Eleanor said as Leon signaled a photographer to join them.

“I was thinking we could all take a picture together,” Leon said.

“Our pleasure,” Stephen said. “After that, I have some proposals I think you might be interested in, Ms. Luthor.”

“It’s a party. She didn’t come here to work, honey,” Eleanor objected, sending Lena an apologetic look.

Lena knew how the rest of the conversation would go without hearing it. She reached into her clutch for a business card—the one with Naomi’s number on it.

“Well, Ms. Luthor is a hard person to get in a room with,” Stephen argued, as if this wasn’t a script they’d run on people as a couple a hundred times. “You can’t blame me for trying when she’s right here.”

Eleanor rolled her eyes. A rehearsed gesture. “I’m sure you two could find a way to get in the same room and talk business during actual business hours.”

Such a good wife, setting her husband up with such a soft pitch her man could turn into a home run.

“I’d love to do that,” Stephen said, looking at Lena. “Do you think we could schedule some time to look over some proposals I have for you?”

Lena handed over her card just as the photographer arrived. “My assistant should be able to find some time. Give her a call.”

“Will do,” he said, tucking the card into his breast pocket as Leon directed them into photo positions.

“How about we put the women in the middle with the men on either side?” Leon said as if it wasn’t obvious Lena would be positioned next to any other female in the picture. She went along with it, though, ignoring the way Eleanor’s hand caressed its way into place on her waist as they posed. Lena stuck to placing her hand on the other woman’s shoulder as she smiled for the camera for several shots.

“I think I’ve got a few good ones,” the cameraman said, bringing the camera down and checking a few of the proofs before nodding. “Yep. We’re good.”

Lena removed her hand, noting Eleanor’s didn’t move away as Leon jumped back in as facilitator.

“I know the Taylors were very interested in meeting you, Lena, along with the administrator,” he said. “Let me see if I can spot them.”

Leaving her with the Stoddarts, Leon disappeared back into the crowd.

Abandoned for the moment, Lena decided to take the conversation to a place that would get the hand off her waist.

“I understand you might be adding a trapeze yoga studio to your downtown complex.”

Eleanor’s hand pulled away.

No. They weren’t planning on it.

“I think I saw something like that on one of the applications,” Stephen said, obviously not sure what she was talking about. “We do have a spot opening up in December, but the decision hasn’t been made on which business will get the lease. We have over 50 applicants.”

“Where did you hear it would be a yoga studio?” Eleanor asked, not fooling Lena one bit with her casual tone. The woman was a total gossip. No question.

“Oh, I didn’t,” Lena replied. “It’s just the studio of my personal massage therapist, and I’ve been hoping to have her move to a more central location.”

She wasn’t exactly sure why she indulged the truth that much, only that four eyebrows shot straight up when they heard, followed by a covert look from Eleanor to her husband.

“Your personal massage therapist?” she said. “That surprises me. As I recall, that particular application was rejected due to income. The business simply doesn’t have the past earnings to support the space.”

The flash of anger Lena felt at Eleanor’s condescension caught her by surprise, but she was quick to let it go.

“It’s true,” Lena replied, as if she were well-versed in Kara’s finances. “She needs to charge more. Kara even charges me the same as she would anyone else for her services when I would happily pay more. But she’s the best and she’s stubborn, so what do you do?”

“The best?” Eleanor asked, taking Lena’s bait.

Lena nodded. “You should do a session with her before you make a decision. She’s first-rate and is booked months out. She’s also had the contract for yoga and massage at L-Corp. Everyone loves her and her partner.”

“Interesting,” Eleanor said, again sending a look to her husband. “Maybe I should try an hour with her.”

“Have Naomi give you Kara’s contact information when you call to make our appointment,” Lena said to Stephen, keeping her smile just as casual as theirs as Leon returned to the group.

“The Taylors are over by the bar,” he said to her before turning to the Stoddarts. “I hope you don’t mind me stealing Ms. Luthor away.”

“Of course, we mind,” Eleanor teased. “But we understand she’s in demand.”

There was more than a trace of innuendo in that last part, which Lena chose not to respond to.

“Great to meet you,” Lena said instead, holding out her hand to shake each of theirs before moving away.

She had a feeling she hadn’t heard the last from the Stoddarts.

Falling in step with Leon, Lena stole another glance at the clock. Another twenty-seven minutes and she would be off to the airport.

She could do this.


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remember how the tags say you might not like the Danvers parents in this one?
> 
> Well, here we go! In this AU they're a little less ... progressive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> +50 kudos = Bonus 😘

One of the best things about Saturdays was that Kara was done working by noon.

Even better, it was bungee-painting date night with Alex and Maggie, which meant she had to finish all of her usual Saturday stuff before five. That had Kara rushing home earlier than usual—forgetting about her sister’s FaceTime date with their parents until she walked through the door and heard them say her name from the computer speakers.

Great.

Time for _another_ lecture on dating.

“…well, look who’s here,” Alex said way too brightly before Kara could disappear back the way she came.

_“Is that my second daughter?” Kara _heard her mom say from the computer.

“That’s me!” Kara called back, walking into frame to see both her parents looking back expectantly.

_“Done with work?” _her dad asked.

“Yep,” Kara said with a big smile. “Done for the day.”

_“Alex tells us you’re going on a double date tonight,” _her mom said, smile bright.

“No, Mom,” Alex answered. “I’m going on a date. Kara is just coming along.”

“Because it’s a group event I was invited to a month ago,” Kara said, giving her sister a push.

_“Well, that should have given you plenty of time to find a date,” _her dad said with a little bit of concern in his voice.

Right. Yeah. That. “There wasn’t really time to find someone. Jimmy and I are spending a lot of time looking for a new gym location.”

_“He’s such a great young man,” _her mom said, looking a little dreamy about it. _“Why isn’t he your date? You know he’d go.”_

“We don’t want to mix signals like that, Mom,” Kara explained for the hundredth time.

_“I don’t see why not,” _her father said with a frown. _“You have so much in common and get along well. Why not build on that?”_

Why? Why was this the only thing her parents could talk about anymore? It made talking zero fun.

“Yeah, Kara,” Alex teased. “Why not build on that?”

_Traitor, Kara _thought even though she probably would have said the exact thing in Alex’s shoes.

“Because we don’t want a break up to break up our business. I swear we covered that like a hundred times already.”

_“We just worry about you,” _her mom said in that way only a mother could. _“How long has it been since you brought a boy home?”_

_“Two Christmases,” _her father answered for her. _“That Brad guy. Although I must say I’m glad he didn’t stick around.”_

Who could forget that holiday? Festivities had taken a quick dive when Brad had realized Kara’s dad had guns and decided to make a stink about it.

Merry Christmas.

“I’ve dated since then,” Kara said with an eye roll. “I just haven’t met anyone worth bringing home.”

_“What’s wrong with all those city guys?” _her dad grumbled. _“Don’t any of them have their acts together?”_

“Not enough to hold their own against you,” Kara said, putting a little charm into it. He bought it hook, line, and sinker.

_“Well, city men are a different breed, I’ll give you that,” _he said. _“Still, Alex tells us you’re working on Friday nights?”_

Kara shot her sister a look, to which Alex mouthed a _Sorry,_ as if she really hadn’t meant to let it slip.

_“For the Luthor family, no less?”_ he added, brow furrowed in concern. _“That family deserves none of your time, Kara.”_

“It’s work,” Kara explained. “Just an after-hours massage.”

_“Well, that doesn’t make it sound any better,” _her mom huffed.

Kara rolled her eyes. “Oh, my gosh, Mom. It’s not a scandal. It was just the only time I had open and Lena took it.”

_“Lena?” _her mom repeated, as if Kara said something wrong and Kara realized then that even Alex was looking at her funny.

Her dad looked at Alex. _“Are you in the habit of calling your boss by her first name?”_

“No,” Alex said slowly like she wanted to find another answer but couldn’t.

“Well, she’s not my boss,” Kara defended. “She’s a client. I call all my clients by their first names. It’s not weird. So stop making it weird.”

_“Well, I don’t like you spending your Friday nights with Lena Luthor,” _her father said with finality.

“Seriously, Dad?” Kara laughed. “Am I twenty-six or sixteen here?”

_“You’ll always be our little girl,” _her mom countered.

“Well, this little girl is massaging Lena Luthor twice a week up until the Christmas break.”

_“Twice?” _her mother gawked, as if Kara had just revealed some massive scandal in the family

And this was why Kara liked to skip the calls with her parents. She loved them and all, but they were obsessed with her personal life.

Why couldn’t her parents support her goals instead of pushing her toward marriage all the time?

_“I think what your mother is saying is that we worry.”_

“About what?” Kara replied, trying not to sound angry. “I’m doing really well.”

_“But you’re alone,” _her mom said, sounding sad.

“I’m not alone. I live with Alex.”

_“Who wants to get a place with Maggie,” _her mom pointed out while her father frowned. He didn’t like cohabitating when it came to straight couples and wasn’t an ounce more excited about when it came to gay couples.

“I’m not stopping her,” Kara said, sharing a look with her sister.

Was that something they needed to be talking about? Was she holding Alex back from a bigger commitment?

She’d have to find out after the call.

_“Well, your mother might be more worried about your love life, but I just don’t want you thinking money is what brings happiness in life,” _her father said, expression serious._ “I also have concerns about you visiting the Luthor estate. I’ve heard some rather unsavory things about Lena's proclivities and I don’t think I want you around that.”_

Wait. What had he heard? And how? From who? Someone in his congregation? During confession?

What had they said?

Kara had to know.

“What have you heard?” she asked, trying to keep her tone light.

_“Nothing I’m going to repeat here,” _he replied diplomatically. _“But enough to ask you to stop going to that house.”_

Uh, that wasn’t going to happen. Not a chance.

“Well, if you want your daughter’s take on Lena Luthor,” Kara said. “I can tell you that she is kind, intelligent, and has never shown me anything but respect.”

“Really?” Alex said, sounding surprised.

Seriously? Alex had to choose right then to weigh in? “Really.”

_“That’s real nice, honey,” _her mom said. _“I guess I would just feel better if you weren’t spending your Friday nights with a lesbian.”_

And there it was. Kara’s breaking point. “It’s a massage, Mom.”

_“Which means she’s naked—”_

“Wow, Mom,” Alex said, finally taking Kara’s side. “That’s pushing it.”

Their father shook his head. _“But a naked lesbian is a naked lesbian—”_

“Dad!” Kara cut in. “I’m going to stop you right there.”

_“But—”_

“Nope,” she said, shaking her head. “I’m building my business right now, and I’m more interested in making money than finding a man, okay? That’s just where things are, and I don’t want you lecturing me about it. So I’m going to go get ready to tag along on Alex’s date. Maybe I’ll meet someone tonight. Maybe I won’t. But I will be massaging Lena Luthor until she no longer needs my services. Okay?”

Based on her parents' expressions, that was not okay but she didn’t care.

“Glad we could have this chat,” she said before heading off to her room and leaving Alex to say goodbye however she wanted to.

She was done.


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I know it's past time to have our ladies in the same room again, but this chapter is Exhibit 798352 of how much Lena looks forward to their time together ... whether she admits it, or not.

Each day brought a new drama in Lena’s world.

Today’s drama came in the form of two employees with two identical purchase orders for the same new client.

Yet only one of them could have landed the account.

The Sales Manager wasn’t sure what to do about it and neither was HR. So the situation had been escalated to Lena.

“I’ve been working to land this account for two years,” Doug said, face scrunched in outrage.

“Just because you tried for two years and I did it in a day doesn’t make it your account,” Lisa shot back with contempt. “Stone had two years to sign with you, but he chose me. Get over it.”

Lena sat at her desk, watching their bodies and their tones as she processed their words.

The only thing she knew for sure: one of them was a good liar.

“I know it might hurt your ego to get beaten by a woman, but you need to get over it,” Lisa said. “The account is mine.”

“Stealing is not beating,” Doug countered.

“How can I steal what was never yours? Just because you feel entitled to something, doesn’t mean you get it.”

The disdain went both ways with these two. Maybe they’d slept together at some point and had a fall-out, or maybe they just hated each other on instinct. Either way, it ran deep and was a definite problem.

Lena held up her hand for them both to stop talking. “First off, I hope neither of you act this way in front of a client.”

Doug shook his head first. “Never, Ms. Luthor. I just can’t stand by and let someone else take credit for my work.”

“Your work?” Lisa laughed. “You just admitted to failing for two years. This is sales. You don’t get points for swinging and missing. Stone never wanted to work with you. Get over it.”

“Get over a minimum of twenty thousand a year in commissions you’re trying to steal? I don’t think so.”

Lena could see why both their manager and HR hadn’t known what to do with these two, but she didn’t have all day to figure it out either. She had a sense of who was lying, but she needed to take the guesswork out of that assessment, find the liar, and act.

“Doug,” she said. “If Lisa is lying to me right now, what do you think I should do about it?”

“I think this should be written up,” he said without hesitation. “I want this to go into her permanent record here. She can’t go around stealing clients from her own coworkers. It’s unethical.”

Lena looked over at Lisa. “And what should I do with Doug if he is lying to me right now?”

“I’d fire him,” Lisa snapped. “What he’s doing is inexcusable. You know how hard it is as a woman. We have to work twice as hard to get half as much, and there’s always some man ready to swoop in and take the credit.”

Yes. Yes, there was.

“Fucking feminists. Always playing the victim,” Doug muttered under his breath, earning a raised eyebrow from Lena.

He immediately shut his mouth again.

“Very well,” Lena said, gesturing toward her door. “If I could have you both wait outside my office for two minutes.”

They both hesitated like they were waiting for something more before Lisa smiled.

“Of course.”

Lena watched them leave, Lisa reaching the door first and making a show of opening it for Doug, who signaled for her to go first before Lisa doubled-down on being the gentleman and holding the door.

An awkward few seconds later, the door was closed behind them.

Lena hit Naomi’s button on her phone. “Do you have him on the line?”

_“Yes, Ms. Luthor,”_ Naomi replied.

“Put him through.”

_Beep._

“Mr. Stone,” Lena said, smile in her voice. “I hope you weren’t on hold too long.”

_“Only a few seconds,”_ the man replied. _“What can I do for you, Ms. Luthor?”_

“I understand you’re one of our new clients,” she said. “I wanted to welcome you to the family.”

_“A welcome call from the CEO?”_ he chuckled. _“It’s been a long time since I’ve gotten one of those.”_

“Well, I wanted to make sure you knew we value your business and plan on taking care of you,” she replied. “Are you happy with the rep taking care of you?”

_“Doug?”_ Mr. Stone replied. _“Oh, definitely. He’s been pecking at me for a while now. I’ve always resisted going through the pain of changeover, but we’ve been getting some quality complaints about our current sourcing that were only being met with excuses. So I figured it’s time to see if Doug can live up to his promises.”_

“I’m sure he will,” Lena said. “And, if he doesn’t, I would appreciate knowing. We take your satisfaction very seriously here at L-Corp.”

_“I can see that,”_ he chuckled.

“Do you drink single-malt scotch, Mr. Stone?”

_“Of course,”_ he said.

“I would love to send you a sampling from my personal label as a welcome gift.”

_“Well, I won’t refuse that, Ms. Luthor,”_ he said. _“Much appreciated.”_

She shouldn’t say more. She really shouldn’t.

She had her answer.

As far as the client was concerned, Doug was their sales rep. Roger Stone hadn’t even mentioned Lisa. It would be odd if Lena did.

But why was Lisa claiming to be the rep? Likely only Lisa could answer that question.

“I’ll send a messenger over with bottles before end-of-day,” Lena replied. “We look forward to working with you, Mr. Stone.”

_“Thank you, Ms. Luthor. You, too.”_

Then they said their goodbyes and hung up.

For a moment, Lena sat and stared at nothing.

Then she hit Naomi’s button.

_“Yes, Ms. Luthor?”_

“Messenger a small crate of scotch over to Roger Stone within the hour.”

_“Will do.”_

“And send Doug and Lisa back in.”

_“They’re heading in now.”_

Her office door opened a beat later, both employees walking back in. Lena gestured to the chairs across from her desk. “Please, have a seat.”

She watched them move to the chairs, Lisa’s chin tilted righteously up while Doug’s jaw clenched with his chin down. They were both ready to fight in their own way. But they didn’t get to pick the game in her office.

Lena did.

“I’ve made my decision,” she said.

Doug’s jaw clenched, his eyes narrowing as Lisa’s hands lightly gripped the arms of her chair.

“Lisa,” Lena said, starting with the woman first. “You looked me in the eye and lied with passionate conviction, claiming Doug was trying to steamroll you. You did the same to your manager and to HR. I’m going to send you back down to HR right now to see if they can find a reason not to fire you for that.”

Lena then looked at Doug.

“Doug, the account is yours. Please take care of Mr. Stone.”

He nodded, looking both relieved and still a little angry. “Will do.”

“You can’t be serious!” Lisa balked. “Just like that? You sit in your office for a whole minute and then choose in favor of the guy? That’s rich!”

Lena sent her a cautionary look. “I would stop speaking if I were you, Lisa. It is my inclination to fire you altogether.”

“For what?”

“Lying to my face,” Lena said without blinking. “For claiming harm in the name of getting ahead. That’s not how the game is played. Not on my watch. If you want to play dirty, you’re going to need to go somewhere else.”

“Dirty?” Lisa scoffed, seething. “What do you know about that? You’ve had everything handed to you. Now you sit up on your high-and-mighty throne and pretend you have any clue about what it takes to work your way up. You’re such a fraud.”

Lena didn’t move. “Lisa, please go to HR. I’ll brief them on this meeting on your way down. Doug, please return to work.”

“Yes, Ms. Luthor,” Doug said, standing as Lisa huffed to her feet and stormed from the room.

When she was gone—door slammed in her wake—Doug looked back at Lena. “Thank you, Ms. Luthor. I promise Stone really did sign with me. Lisa was there flirting the same day, but he signed with me. She wasn’t even part of the talks.”

“I know,” Lena said with a quick nod. “Keep up the good work.”

“Thank you,” he said. “I will, Ms. Luthor.”

Lena watched him go, then picked up the phone to call HR.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I seriously love hearing your thoughts. Never be afraid to comment.
> 
> And I'm going to try my hand at podcasting. Want to listen in? Follow me @TheSmuttyBard on Twitter and I'll let you know when it goes up!


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One kudo away from a bonus chapter, so here's a segue chapter...

The space was perfect.

Kara was kind of an expert these days on commercial properties, and she was currently standing inside the best option available.

And the lease was on the table.

“Are we really about to do this?” Jimmy asked, still seeming a little blown away. He’d been the one to get the call, and yet he kept looking to Kara for proof that this was all really happening.

“I don’t know about you, but I am,” Kara said, fighting the urge to dance with excitement.

“It’s so perfect,” Jimmy said like he still didn’t dare hope for it. “Right by Lululemon and a juice bar, and across from a ballet studio?”

“It’s where we belong,” Kara said, feeling the truth of it. They were going to kick ass here. She knew it. “I’ve had three people from the ballet studio drop by and specifically ask if we will be offering classes in trapeze yoga or silks during their children’s classes.”

Jimmy glanced up at the ceiling. “All that equipment is going to cost us.”

“Yeah. But we planned on that from the beginning.”

“Hmm,” he said, which was usually what he said when he felt like things were moving too fast, so Kara backed off a bit.

Kind of.

“What do you think of blue, yellow, and orange as our brand colors?” she asked when the silence grew too long.

“Why those?”

“Because you’re the cool chill of water, I’m spazzy like sunshine, and together our result are fire.”

That got a smile out of him. “I like it.”

“I can see it in my head,” she said, smiling like a fool. “It’ll take a lot of paint, but this place is going to look awesome when it’s done.”

He took a deep breath, looking at her with nervous excitement. “We really are doing this, aren’t we?”

“I’m all-in.”

Jimmy closed his eyes, took another deep breath, and nodded. “Okay, then.”

Five minutes later, everything was signed.


	23. Chapter 23

When Lena’s eyes blinked open, she was not looking at a headboard.

There was no dark bedroom.

She was in her jet, heart rate normal and breathing evenly as Kara’s voice chattered in her ear.

_“…you might be proof that aliens exist, which is crazy, right? I mean, if you’re aliens, did you come here _ _by accident? Or on purpose? Are you lost, or are you spies?”_

What the fuck?

Lena sat up and pulled her earbuds out of her ears, Kara’s voice disappearing and replaced with the quiet of a stationary jet.

Last she remembered, she’d been in the air over England on her way back from a two-day trip. She’d listened to a few hypnosis tracks to avoid taking a Valium before giving up and trying other options.

The last file she remembered clicking had been a clip she’d cut from a security file back at the house … a twenty-five-minute, one-sided conversation Kara had had with Bitch Queen a few weeks ago.

Lena had never listened to it before, but last night she’d decided to find out exactly what a person could talk about with an octopus for that long. She’d literally had nothing else to do.

The funny thing was, she still didn’t know what Kara had talked about that long because she’d fallen asleep maybe five minutes in.

And she’d stayed asleep, with the clip apparently looping the entire time.

Had she really slept through the flight? That seemed impossible.

What time was it?

Picking her phone up from its charging station, she saw it was 11:17 p.m. local time. She pushed the blind covering the window up and found that she was parked in her hangar at home with her car waiting outside the jet.

She was on the ground, having gained eight hours after an nine-hour flight.

She’d slept eight hours. Minimum.

That had to be wrong. It had to be. And yet…

“Ah, you’re awake,” Henry said from across the aisle. “The car is ready to take you home whenever you’re ready.”

Lena sat up, still disoriented. “How long have we been on the ground?”

“Just over an hour,” Henry replied. “We made good time.”

Over an hour? She’d never slept through a landing in her life.

“Give me a minute, I’ll be right out,” she said to Henry, more interested in getting some privacy than getting on the road because she wasn’t all that sure she wasn’t in the middle of a dream or something.

Eight hours?

Weirder than that was how awake she felt … and unsweaty. And weirdly content.

Shit.

That was bad. So bad.

While Henry stood from his seat and headed out of the jet, Lena tried to hold back the panic rising in her chest.

What had she just let happen?

Lena already liked Kara too much—way too much. And now she’d gone and let herself imprint on Kara’s voice in her sleep, her primal mind seeming to take it as some sort of signal that all was well?

On one side, it was a total miracle to find out that a full night’s sleep was possible. But the flip side?

Fuck.

Just fuck.

Giving the situation a little rational thought, Lena sensed the phenomenon probably had something to do with the “two minutes” Kara insisted on at the end of every massage. It seemed like such a simple slip of her guard to let herself follow Kara’s voice and hands to a place where she could relax for just a moment before getting up again and “kicking ass,” as Kara liked to say.

Lena had thought the trigger would only work on the massage table during a massage, but current evidence suggested maybe that wasn’t the case.

What the hell was she supposed to do about the fact that Kara’s voice apparently turned her brain into a trained seal in her sleep—believing all was well based on the voice in her ears?

This was bad—beyond compromising, really. Her lizard-brain was bowing to a voice Lena paid by the hour.

Unacceptable.

_You know what you need to do, _a chilly voice whispered in her mind.

And it was right. She knew. She’d known for over a month.

She needed to get rid of Kara.

She just didn’t know how.


	24. Chapter 24

“I’m seriously freaking out,” Kara said, tucking the sheet between Lena’s thighs to expose her right leg and butt cheek to work on. “Jimmy had totally given up on the spot. He thought we might be stuck in that hole out in the middle of nowhere another year. But the papers are signed.” She ran her hand along Lena’s hip to signal where she was going to start. “We’re officially moving downtown.”

“Congratulations,” Lena said through the hole in the face pillow. “That’s exciting.”

“It is! Everyone I talked to thought _Orange Theory_ was going to get the spot,” Kara gushed, her hands sliding over Lena’s glutes as she used a few broad strokes to warm the area up so she could work her way in and see how badly the woman’s piriformis was misbehaving on this particular day. “Not gonna lie, I kind of became a stalker at the mall toward the end. They already know me at the juice shop—although I guess it’s technically a coffee shop.” She was rambling. “But if you ever visit it, definitely get the juice. It goes through this cold-pressing process that’s supposed to keep more nutrients in. Not sure if that’s true or just marketing, but it tastes awesome either way. I’m totally addicted.”

“Sounds delicious,” Lena’s face-down form mumbled, making Kara wonder if she was rambling a little too much.

But the woman had asked how her day was going so, technically, Kara was just answering her question.

“Totally,” Kara confirmed as she started pressing in on a trouble area. “Although I’m kind of weirded out by the fact that my favorite drink is all root vegetables. Who saw that coming? I’m a total fruit girl.”

Pause.

“Maybe you need the iron,” Lena suggested.

Huh. Maybe she did. “I have been cutting red meat out of my diet recently,” she mused. “You might be right.”

But when wasn’t Lena Luthor right?

“I’m using your color idea, by the way,” Kara said, fingertips pressing into the tight band of muscle Lena liked to tuck her stress into when struck her signature stance. “Jimmy loved it. He’s all in. We’re doing blue, yellow, and orange—but not, like, super bold versions of the colors … and not pastel either. Kind of more like sunset-over-the-ocean colors, which is pretty much the vibe of our new logo. It’s hard to describe, but I have color swatches.” … _if you want to see them._

“I’m sure it will look great.”

Hmm. That kind of sounded like she didn’t want to see them. Which was a bummer because Kara really wanted to show her. She’d still be trying to talk Jimmy into pink if it hadn’t been for Lena’s input. But their new sign was going to be so killer.

Oh, well. Lena would see it eventually.

Taking Lena’s short answer as a hint, Kara worked in silence for a while. She usually liked to talk when she worked on Lena’s glutes because it gave her brain something else to think about other than how all asses were not created equally.

Because, when it came to asses, Kara had seen a few. They had different textures and hair quantities and muscle-to-fat ratios.

Lena’s was so smooth—no acne or dry spots—without so much as a bump or a birthmark. Just pristine, porcelain skin. Kara only ever saw it one ass cheek at a time, but she could fill in the blanks of the full picture when she saw it covered.

Perfect.

More than once, Kara had almost asked Lena what exercises she did to achieve the tight, heart-shaped look. But that would be crossing the professional line just a bit.

So would a lot of things Kara wanted to do to Lena these days.

Kara was good at getting to know her clients’ bodies really well … what they wanted … what they needed. And while Kara almost always used sports massage techniques on Lena, that wasn’t what her body was asking for.

It wasn’t what Lena really needed.

What Lena Luthor needed was a shit-ton of cuddling and the oxytocin that came with it.

Kara knew the woman didn’t like to be touched, but there was something off about that considering that the lack of touch was showing up in the woman’s body everywhere.

Even in her ass.

Kara didn’t know how to suggest that an hour of cuddling might do the woman more good than an hour massage at this point. Lena’s body was crying out so loudly for it that it was hard not to trade out the broad pressure of the heel of her hand for the lighter touch of fingertips and take the massage a different direction.

It would be so easy.

It would also be wrong.

A lot of things Kara thought these days were wrong.

Like strapping Lena Luthor to that giant X-thing about twenty feet away to work on her. It would mean seeing the woman naked, but Kara was cool with that—especially if the top straps that bound the wrists could be tightened so that some of Lena’s weight was taken off her feet as she worked.

Kara would need to google if giving massages on bondage equipment was a thing when she got home.

Or—hey—maybe there were some Tumblr gifs showing how people used the device.

Kara was learning all sorts of things from Tumblr these days, which had really enhanced her game when it came to flying solo.

As it turned out, Lena Luthor made a killer fantasy partner when it came to solo sex. If fantasy Kara could dream it up, fantasy Lena could pop an intrigued dark eyebrow and play along in ways that made Kara orgasm way more quickly than she was used to.

Kara’s answer to Lena's offer in the real world hadn’t changed. She didn’t want to be her sex slave and she didn’t want to start a relationship with a woman … but that didn’t mean her imagination hadn’t found a bit of a happy place when it came to Lena Luthor.

Some of the thoughts that made Kara come these days really surprised her. Kara wasn’t quite sure how to explain it, but when she thought about going down on Lena her brain went to this catnip place where she was totally into it. It kind of weirded her out, but she also came like a train when she thought about her mouth melting the ice queen.

So she wasn’t fighting a good thing at this point. It was either explore her imagination or keep downing whiskey to get to sleep at night. And Kara didn’t want to become an alcoholic.

Better to fall asleep slightly sweaty and smiling into her pillow while thinking forbidden thoughts no one needed to know about but her.

It wasn’t like any of it was real anyway.

Just thoughts.

Thoughts she couldn’t be thinking now if she didn’t want to get turned on.

Shit.

She needed to start talking again.

She needed the distraction.

“So,” Kara said, searching for a topic on the fly. “Doing anything for Halloween?”

“Halloween?” Lena echoed, as if it was only now occurring to her that it was only ten days away. “No plans. You?”

“Are you kidding?” Kara laughed. “It’s party season, with five more parties left to go. All my costumes picked out.”

“Costumes?” Lena asked. “You have more than one?”

“Of course,” Kara said, finding Lena’s confused tone a little adorable as she started working down her leg. “No lies? I’m a little Heidi Klum when it comes to Halloween. It’s totally my favorite holiday, so I pack the costumes in. I’m going to be Sailor Moon at Jimmy’s party tonight, a sugar skull at Maggie’s, and Elektra for the studio party. Then I’m going to be Supergirl for Jenna’s, and Hela for the party Alex and I are throwing at our place. All the costumes are awesome. I’m so amped.”

“Sounds fun.” The two words could not have sounded more disinterested, but Kara pretended not to notice.

“It is. You should come.”

Wait. What was she saying? She couldn’t invite Lena Luthor to a party where people were drinking out of red Solo cups.

“I mean, it’s mainly just beer and people acting stupid. But there’s always dancing and that’s fun wherever you are.”

“I don’t think I’ll be making it to any parties this year, but thank you for the invitation,” Lena replied in a tone that implied next year was also highly unlikely.

It was probably time to stop talking again, which was fine. Kara could just close her eyes and let the muscles do the talking as she worked her way down to the Achilles tendon.

And that’s exactly what she did.

Several minutes later, she rested the flat of her hand on Lena’s calf to signal that the area was complete. “Okay. Let’s have you turn over and get the other side.”

Kara held the sheet up a few inches, allowing Lena to stay covered as she turned face-up on the table and scooted down without being asked. She knew the drill—taking a moment to check if any mascara had migrated from where it should have before closing her eyes and settling in for the back-end of the massage.

It was a mixed blessing that Lena always kept her eyes closed when she was laying on her back. It was good that Kara didn’t have to look her in the eyes like this, but bad in that it allowed Kara’s eyes to wander a bit.

Because, damn. Lena’s sheets left zero to the imagination, and the only other places to look were her face or her exposed shoulders and collarbones.

For a brief moment, Kara allowed herself to relive a thought she’d had a few nights before … where she’d crawled over the top of Lena like this—covered from the top of her breasts down—and pressed a kiss to the underside of Lena’s jaw. Imaginary her had then kissed down Lena’s neck and along her trapezius before dragging her tongue along that perfect collarbone until—

“How’s your swing these days,” Kara asked, focusing in on Lena’s left shoulder.

“Good,” Lena replied. “Improved.”

Kara smiled. “Told ya’.”

“You did,” Lena said with a smile of her own. “Sometimes, I swear I can see you smirking in my mind when someone makes a comment.”

“If I’m smirking, it’s only because you doubted me. I’m normally quite humble.”

“Humble when praised, insufferable when doubted,” Lena replied, eyes still closed as a smile pulled up on one side. “Got it.”

Kara began testing her shoulder muscles, probing a little more firmly than necessary even as she kept her tone amiable. “I wouldn’t say I’m insufferable.”

One of Lena’s eyes popped open, as if checking to see if she’d made the claim with a straight face.

She totally hadn’t. Dammit. How had Lena known she’d catch her?

Trying to recover, Kara added, “Most people suffer me quite happily, I’ll have you know.”

“I see. And am I supposed to take _your_ word on that?”

If Lena would have been Alex, Kara would have given her sister a swat for winning that point.

But Lena was not Alex, which meant no swatting. So Kara glared instead, her hands continuing to probe a little harder than necessary which somehow earned Kara a full-smile from Lena as she laughed at the passive-aggressive move.

The smile flashed like a camera bulb out of nowhere—perfect teeth framed by painted lips holding Kara’s full focus for a moment. Then her vision branched out, filtering other features back into her awareness again.

That strong jaw … her smooth, soft skin … raven hair … dimples that signaled mischief … dark lashes that were somehow more eye-catching than her bold lips.

“I just realized something,” Kara blurted, the idea still forming in her head.

“What’s that?”

Kara wasn’t sure how to say it so she winged it. “Why you wear dark lipstick when lighter lipstick looks better on you.”

Those jade eyes cracked open. “Did you now? Care to share with the class?”

Kara shook her head, mostly because she had no idea how to phrase what she thinking in a way that wouldn’t make her sound like a total freak. So she deflected.

“No. I’m feeling rather insufferable at the moment.”

“I knew it,” Lena teased. “Your humility is nothing more than un-wounded pride. All it needs is one poke, and…”

Lena left the taunt hanging between them like a call to raise or fold.

And Kara answered via massage.

In the end, she was pretty sure they both considered it a draw.


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> +50 = Bonus 😘

Somewhere out in the city, Kara Danvers was at a Halloween party dressed as Sailor-fucking-Moon.

Lena had never heard of the character before so she’d done a web search for it after Kara left.

No shocker, it was one of those costumes with the shortest fucking skirts known to man. No doubt a dozen ogling men were imagining themselves bending Kara over the nearest object that very moment.

Not that it was Lena’s business.

Because it wasn’t.

It wasn’t.

It fucking wasn’t.

She had to stop fixating. She knew that, which was how she’d ended up back at the club. Again. Lena was becoming a regular. Not a good thing. She knew that, too. In the balancing act between passion and vice, the tipping point was such a razor’s edge.

But she could manage it … she could ride that line … because a little vice was better than the alternative.

Losing control was not an option. The world didn’t make room for lesbian CEOs who fucked up. No matter how progressive everyone pretended to be, envy came first.

The world was just waiting for a moment of failure it could use to leverage into throwing her to the fucking wolves.

So she couldn’t slip. Not even a little. Not even once.

And that’s why tonight was all about ropes—a methodical discipline with little room for error. Because Lena needed to get her ass under control. Immediately. She could not go batshit just because her massage therapist was out dick hunting.

Her shit was her shit. No one wanted to deal with it. Everyone needed her calm and steady.

Including the blindfolded woman in front of her, suspended by ropes from anchor points in the ceiling.

Lena had done well. And she was glad because she couldn’t have had a better sub. It was almost a shame they weren’t out in the public space. Lena may not like exhibitionism, but it was clear her sub did.

She didn’t have a hair on her body from the chin down, everything laid bare to the eye. And every inch of it was stunning. Her mocha skin was impossibly clear of blemishes and her vulva was the type of view that inspired artists to pick up their brushes. Georgia O’Keeffe would climb out her grave to paint it.

This wasn’t the sub’s first suspension either. The girl hung there with a serenity that came from experience, both mental and physical, as Lena spanked her lightly with a crop. Then Lena reached up to where the woman’s hands were cuffed behind her back like she’d been arrested and pressed the side of her finger into the sub’s palm.

“Squeeze,” she said softly.

The response was instant and firm.

Lena moved her hand to the other palm. “Squeeze.”

Same response. That was good.

When it came to BDSM, what looked dangerous and what was actually dangerous could be two very different things. Suspension might look simple enough, but the threat of nerve damage was real and it happened fast. And what happened fast could become permanent.

With suspension, you always had to keep checking in. One wince, one flinch, one delayed response, and the sub needed to come down and be adjusted immediately.

“Any sharp pains, Baby?” she asked. That was her preferred name.

“No, Mistress,” the sub replied, her voice steady and calm.

Lena looked over to where her sub’s head dangled at an awkward angle, weighed down by long, thick ebony braids. She’d been suspended for a while. Her neck had to be getting tired.

“Do you want me to tie your hair up?” Lena asked. “Add a little hair pull?”

“Yes, Mistress. I would love that.”

“Okay,” Lena said, pulling out more rope and looping it through the anchor point and getting to work.

When she was done, she pressed her finger the girl’s palm again. “Squeeze.”

Still good.

Other hand. “Squeeze.”

Same.

“Curl your toes.” Another immediate response.

Satisfied that the girl was still doing well and knew enough to mention it if she wasn’t, Lena stepped back and admired her work … which quickly turned into admiring the body held up by her work.

All bodies were definitely not created equal. Lena had seen enough of them to know that a thousand times over, firsthand. And while she never judged, she did occasionally admire.

Today was one of those days.

Lena may not know what Kara looked like in a Sailor Moon costume, but her current view was arguably better.

The weight-bearing ropes wrapped above and below the sub’s breasts and around the top and bottom of her ass. Lena had suspended her on her right side, anchoring her left leg up and binding her right leg to that. When she relaxed, it created a nice spread to her legs that wasn’t vulgar but still provided access for contact.

The sub looked so much more comfortable with her head hanging lightly from her hair. Her full lips were parted, as if lost in some prolonged sigh as Lena picked up her crop.

“How are you feeling, Baby?”

“Good, Mistress,” the sub said in a dreamy tone. “Really good.”

“Do you want me to use the crop again?”

“Yes, Mistress. Please, Mistress.”

Suspension called for a gentle use of the crop. The instrument served to lightly tap the girl’s preferred areas. In this case, that was her ass and her clit—quick, light touches about as fast as a person tapping their finger.

Lena did it on the girl’s ass for a while, then asked for two more squeezes on her finger before rotating the girl around and patting her mound with light touches that got the girl twitching a bit as a little bit of wetness appeared in her slit.

She liked the clit pats.

But they were approaching their time limit. Suspension couldn’t go on forever. Circulation was too important to be impeded for long.

Lena rotated her again, pressing her finger against the palm. “Squeeze.”

This squeeze came slower and softer, which was Lena’s sign.

“Okay, Baby,” she said. “It’s time to bring you down. Would you like me to lay you to the ground or would you like to stand on one foot as I unbind you?”

“One foot, please, Mistress,” she replied, sounding a bit drugged.

Lena untied her accordingly, putting the girl on her feet, kept on balance with the ropes around her chest as she went to work untying her bound foot first. Then her arms and hair, followed by everything else until all that remained was the blindfold and a grimace of pain as she massaged her own forearms, trying to get circulation back.

“What do you feel, Baby?”

“A minute ago, nothing but temperature,” she replied. “But now it’s all pins and needles.”

“Any dead zones?” Lena asked, grabbing a blanket from the stack and resting it over the sub’s shoulders.

The sub shook her head without hesitation. “No. It’s all a hornet’s nest right now. It’s intense.”

“Okay, then let’s get you to aftercare.”

An aftercare slut awaited Baby—a woman who role-played as a kitty cat that massaged people like she was “making biscuits”. It would be a good match to get Baby back up and running.

The kitty cat had offered to make biscuits on Lena as part of her aftercare, too, but when it came to massage, there was only one set of paws Lena wanted on her.

And didn’t it always just come back to that … no matter how hard she tried to distract herself.

Fuck.

Just … fuck.


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 50 kudos = Bonus 🥰😘

ONE

MONTH

LATER

It was official: Kara would never again teach another class or give another massage in a dying strip mall in the middle of nowhere. After three years of leasing, she and Jimmy had a week to clean out.

They were headed downtown.

It still felt like a dream … a dream that started by scrubbing out of the place that had gotten them started.

“It’s been fun,” Kara said to the empty room as she wiped down its baseboards. “You were good to us, but we can’t stay here forever. I’m sure you understand.”

The front door swung open in response, Kara’s sister walking through with two Jamba Juices and a sack of sandwiches.

“You’re a mindreader!” Kara called out to her.

“No,” Alex replied, walking her way. “I’ve just known you for twenty-six years.”

“And you still love me.”

“Apparently,” Alex said, pretending to be a grouch about it. “Where’s Jimmy?”

“With a client,” Kara said with a little scowl. “Very convenient.”

“No one ever said he was a stupid man,” Alex said, setting the food down so that only a magazine remained in her hand. “Everyone knows that once you start cleaning you’re not going to stop until everything is done to your specifications.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “Why do you think I agreed to be your roommate? You might play your music too loud, but everything is always clean.”

“That’s right,” Kara said, curious why her sister was bringing a magazine over instead of the food. “What’s this?”

Alex hesitated for a moment. “It’s the motive for a weird question.”

Interesting. “Okay. Shoot.”

“Lena Luthor—”

“Yeah?” Kara said, reaching for the magazine, noticing how her sister’s finger bookmarked a page inside.

“There’s this article saying … well, that she might be going straight,” Alex said opening to the page and turning it so Kara could see the picture of Lena sitting at a bar with a dark-haired man. Laughing.

Kara looked closer. _Really_ laughing.

The guy was smiling, too, apparently enjoying Lena’s company—because who didn’t? The woman could be as charming as hell when she wasn’t in boss-mode.

They looked cozy. Kara had to admit that, but it didn’t make her buy the caption under the photo: Lena Luthor _goes straight?_

“No way,” she said, even though she had to admit that the connection between the two did look quite comfortable. Lena certainly wasn’t that open with her.

“Have you seen this guy around?” Alex asked. “Do you know who he is? He’s supposed to be some shipping mogul with a fortune way bigger than hers, but that’s all I was able to dig up.”

No. Kara hadn’t seen this guy before. Never even heard his name. Jack Spheer? She would have remembered a name like that, just like she would have remembered a face that handsome. Olive coloring, dark eyes, closely trimmed beard … just long enough to start being soft. And a good body—like a rower.

Kara’s eyes naturally gravitated to where the man’s hand casually rested on Lena’s shoulder in the picture.

Lena—the lesbian who supposedly didn’t like to be touched—seemed to have no problem with the contact. Yet his hand wasn’t holding on like a lover’s. There was no possession in it. It looked more like a fleeting touch a photographer had caught with perfect timing.

“They’re not together,” Kara said with confidence. “She’s gay, Alex.”

“I know that’s what everyone says,” Alex said, looking like she might be on the verge of one her gay-panic moments. “But what if she’s bi and starting to look at guys?”

Kara shook her head. “Not happening. Promise. Lena Luthor is not abandoning your tribe for some—” she looked at the guy again, feeling a tug of annoyance at the clear interest in his eyes, even if Lena wasn’t returning it “—shipping tycoon.”

Yet even Kara had a pause of doubt at that one. Lena was nothing if not practical. She might want kids … and if learning to eat soup at the Luthor estate taught Kara anything, it was that Lena Luthor knew how to handle a penis if she wanted to.

“Apparently, this guy’s some womanizer who burns through women,” Alex said, clearly getting worked up. “The article quotes someone ‘close to the couple’ as stating they spend all their free time together.”

Kara handed the magazine back. “Lena Luthor isn’t looking for a man. I can promise you that.” _And please don’t ask me how I know._

Her sister looked a little more assured this time. “So you haven’t seen anything when you’ve been over there? Any evidence of a man being around?”

“There isn’t even evidence of a fly in that house,” Kara laughed.

“You know what I mean.”

“I do. And I’m saying I haven’t seen anything that makes that rumor look remotely true to me.”

“Okay,” Alex said, taking a calming breath.

“Okay,” Kara echoed, a little curious as to why her sister was taking it all so personally. Did she like Lena? Was everything good with Maggie?

“I guess I just freaked out and wanted to be sure,” Alex explained.

“I get it.” Actually, she didn’t. Why did her sister care so much about Lena’s private life? What was going on there?

“Will you let me know if something changes and you pick up on anything, though? I need to know if I need to invest in some sackcloth and ashes and just get the grieving over now.”

Kara let out a little laugh. “Lesbians are so dramatic.”

In a flash, Alex was upset again. “You don’t know what it’s like to have all your representation out in the world drop like flies—either to bullets on a screen or to men in real life because they want biological children with a live-in father.” She rolled up the magazine, looking ready to hit something with it. “When public lesbians choose men, everyone starts talking about how being gay is obviously a choice, and they look at you like you’re a myth made up by a mental illness they just want to help you cure. And it sucks to have people looking at you like that, okay? So pardon me for taking it personally if Lena Luthor switches teams. Reading about how she came out when I was a teen was one of the stories that made me brave enough to come out myself. If she switches now, it’s not something I want rubbed in my face, okay? It’ll be hard for me.”

“Okay, got it! Gosh!” Kara said, using her hands to motion for her sister to calm down. “If I get a single whiff Lena Luthor dates outside of Gay-ville, I’ll let you know. But so far, everything I’ve seen points to her being totally gay.”

Her sister’s eyes narrowed. “Like what?”

The intensity took Kara back a bit. “Seriously?”

“Yeah,” she pushed. “What have you seen that makes you think she’s still a lesbian?”

The question caught Kara off guard and she floundered for a moment, trying to find something she could say.

“Oh, my gosh. Did my boss bust a move on you?” Alex asked, eyes sparkling at the idea.

“She keeps everything professional,” Kara said, leaning into the best-sounding truth she could find on the fly. “But there are some things around the house that definitely don’t skew straight.”

“Really?”

“Yes. She’s 100% into ladies, Alex. I promise.”

“Okay,” Alex said with a sigh. “I feel better.”

“Good,” Kara said, her eyes moving over to the Jamba Juice cups. “Does that mean we can eat now?”

“Totally.”


	27. Chapter 27

“…and the whole east wall is just forty feet of brick painted white, which is so boring, you know?” Kara rambled as her hands worked on Lena’s naked back.

The countdown to getting to work on the new space thrummed stronger each day. At this point, Kara could barely keep her feet still, not to mention her mouth.

“So I asked if we could paint it, and they were totally cool with it. I mean, I wish it was the west wall since our logo’s colors are way more sunsetty. But we’re putting all the free weights and machines to the west, and lining all the walls with mirrors. The layout just works better that way for everyone, so I’ll have to get over having sunset colors in the east. It’ll be fine.”

“Sounds like it will be better than fine,” Lena replied, face-down into the headrest.

Kara couldn’t help but smile above her. “I know, right? I’ve drawn it up so many times, and the guy we hired to do the logo turned out to be _crazy_ good. He’s one of Jimmy’s friends, and I kind of thought we were doing him a favor by hiring him. But nope. Our sign is going to be fifty-kagillion times better than I thought it was going to be. It’ll cost way more, of course, but people need to know we’re the best by looking at the sign, right?”

“It sends a good signal,” Lena agreed.

“Yeah. Plus, everyone is going to want aerial shots in front of the mural I’m going to paint. It’s going to be so badass.”

“That’s great.”

Lena wasn’t talking much today.

Again.

That meant Kara shouldn’t be talking either. She should let things be still and let Lena relax into the silence.

And yet, if she didn’t tell Lena now, she’d never get to tell her at all … and she kind of wanted to tell her. It felt like the right thing to do for some reason.

Plus, it gave her something to do besides think about how and contours of Lena’s back cried out for a more luxurious touch that would definitely read sensual if she obeyed its command.

Nope. She couldn’t start thinking about that.

“By the way, my sister thinks you’re turning straight.”

Where the hell had that come from? Kara hadn’t even been thinking about that.

Lena tensed slightly under her hands. “She does?”

Shit. She was all-in now. “Yeah. Apparently, you made it into some gossip magazine this month?”

“So I’ve heard.”

“You haven’t seen it?” Kara asked.

Lena’s head shook back-and-forth in the headrest. “Haven’t gotten around to it.”

Seriously? If Kara heard she was mentioned in a magazine, she’d hunt it down immediately. “Well, it’s a pic of you and some hot dude touching your shoulder with a caption indicating he’s a billionaire womanizer reeling you in.”

Laughter bubbled under Kara’s hands. “Guess they have to sell magazines somehow.”

She thought it was funny?

“My sister came to me trying to find out if she needed to buy sackcloth and ashes on the internet so she could go into mourning.”

“That’s very Biblical of her.”

“We were raised by a preacher,” Kara reminded her. “Some of that stuff doesn’t wear off that easily. Especially the image of crying in a potato sack while covered in soot to prove to the world how sad you are.”

Lena laughed again … a little harder this time. It made Kara smile.

“That is quite the visual. But tell your sister I’m very happily spending my private time with ladies. No shipping mogul for me.”

Wait. She was?

Kara’s hands grew still for a moment, her eyes searching the room for signs of use. Everything looked the same as it usually did and she never smelled any strong scents of cleaner while she was down here. It just smelled fresh. Clean, without any evidence of recent cleansing.

Not used.

“Well, good,” Kara managed, remembering she was supposed to respond. “Alex will be elated to hear that.”

“I’m glad I could put her mind at ease.”

“For sure,” Kara agreed quickly, putting her hands back to work. “But I shouldn’t be asking you things like that during a massage. They’re not relaxing.”

“It’s fine,” Lena replied. “It doesn’t stress me.”

Really? Then why did Kara suddenly feel way more stress in the room?

“Well, I’ll stop talking your ear off now and give you some peace,” Kara said playfully. “How about that?”

“Sounds good,” Lena said. Then nothing else.

Which strangely didn't help erase the sudden tension in the room. But Kara didn't know what would so she quietly got back to work and gave Lena her promised peace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the comments and the kudos. I know I'm SUPER behind at replying (the wrong thing to be "super" at, I know), but I'll get there.
> 
> In the meantime, enjoy your regularly scheduled chapter!


	28. Chapter 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanksgiving time...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> +50 = BONUS 😘

Kara squatted down in front of the oven window, not sure if she was screwing up or getting things just right as she peered at the festival turkey.

She really hoped she hadn’t ruined it.

_“Has the thermometer popped up?”_ her mom asked from the phone.

“No,” Kara replied. “It’s still down.”

_“Then keep the turkey in and drizzle some juices over the top to keep it from drying out.” _

“Okay. I’ll do it when I’m not juggling the phone,” Kara said, standing back up. “Are you and dad seriously not going make it? We’re going to have _so_ much food.”

_“I know,” _her mom replied. _“But old Thunder isn’t feeling well, and your dad doesn’t want to leave him unattended.”_

“What if I paid for someone to come out?” Kara said, knowing the answer even as she made the offer.

_“You know how picky your dad is when it comes to how things are done,” _her mom replied. _“He won’t trust a stranger on short notice.”_

Yeah. Kara knew. But she had to offer anyway. “Well, we’re going to miss you.”

_“I’m going to miss you, too, honey,” _her mom said. _“More than you know. I’m just glad you have friends there to spend the day with.”_

“Totally,” Kara replied. “Bummed you won’t be meeting them.”

_“Alex said something about you inviting a guy? Sorry I won’t be meeting him.”_

“Oh, my gosh, Mom. It’s not like that,” Kara said, checking in on the potatoes on the stove.

Yep. Those were potatoes.

“He’s a guy from my yoga class who couldn’t make it home for the holidays. His family is in Boston and the plane tickets were, like, three thousand bucks so he decided just to spend that on Christmas presents and stay here for Thanksgiving.”

_“Well, your sister says he’s a really nice man.”_

Kara sent her sister a playful glare across the room to where she sat on the couch. “Yeah? Then she can date him.”

Alex clearly didn’t know what was being said but draped her arm around Maggie possessively on instinct. “I’m good.”

_“Well, your father and I are just glad to hear that you’re dating again,” _her mom said in her ear. _“We want to see you happy and wouldn’t mind a grandkid or two.”_

Kara felt her chest clamp. “That’s seriously going to be a ways off, Mom. Like, five years. Minimum.”

_“You say that now, but when you meet the right guy, you won’t want to wait.”_

So she’d always heard. Ad nauseam. “Well, the good news is that you won’t be missing meeting any baby daddies today. Paul is just a nice guy I know. Nothing more. We have a lot of people coming over. Not just him.”

_“Well, keep your mind open,” _her mom said, never giving up. _“He might surprise you.”_

Or he might not. “Okay, Mom. I’ll keep my mind open.” She walked toward her sister. “Do you want to talk to Alex now? I need to baste the turkey.”

_“Okay, hand me over to your sister.”_

_Traitor, _she mouthed, handing the phone over to Alex. Whether she knew why Kara was saying it or not, Alex stuck out her tongue and took the phone.

“Hey, Mom,” she said, voice chipper. “Happy Thanksgiving.”

When Kara headed back over to the kitchen, Maggie popped off the couch and joined her. “So what was that all about?”

Kara rolled her eyes. “Thanks to Alex, my parents think I’m going to be having Paul’s babies soon.”

“Oh,” Maggie said, pulling a face. “That’s a bit premature.”

“I know,” Kara said, grabbing the biggest spoon she could see. “We’re not even dating.”

Maggie looked a bit skeptical. “Well, you have spent a lot of time with him the past few weeks, and were really quick to invite him today.”

“We showed up at the same parties,” Kara said, putting her hand in an oven mitt. “Seeing him that much was a total coincidence. And I invited _everyone _who didn’t have somewhere to go to come over. Not just him.”

Maggie shrugged. “Okay, maybe I misread you on that. But if I did, you might want to put some thought into what Paul thinks he’s walking into when he shows up today. Especially since you have him next to you on the seating chart.”

“He doesn’t know anyone else,” Kara countered, even though—now that Maggie said it like that—she realized that did seem more friendly than necessary.

“Maybe it’s time to force him to meet someone else then,” Maggie suggested. “If you’re really not interested, seat him between two other single girls. Like Jenna and April. They’re coming, right?”

The woman had a point.

"Yeah," Kara said, unsure how to respond beyond that as she squatted down and opened the oven. How much juice was she supposed to drizzle juices over the top? And was there a technique to it? Were you supposed to do it with motions like eating proper soup?

Kara smiled at the memory … at the smirk Lena had flashed her as she played along to Kara’s really lame attempt at a dick joke.

Sometimes Kara couldn’t help but think that dinner was the only glimpse she’d ever had of the real woman underneath the polite conversationalist she’d come to know.

Smirky Lena would be a blast to sit next to at a party—not this party, obviously. Kara couldn’t invite the richest woman in the city to midtown for a holiday dinner that may or may not turn into pizza take-out with fall-themed side dishes.

Wherever Lena was spending the day, one thing was certain: the food was definitely better.

“Half the people showing up today are probably interested in you a bit,” Maggie mused, pulling Kara’s mind back to the present. “Females included. I know that’s not your vibe, but you’re kind of everyone’s type. So maybe keep that in mind, too.”

Not _everyone’s_ type.

Lena might have started out their relationship by proposing something personal, but that was all gone with the wind now.

Kara had thought spending time around Lena would bring them closer … make them friends … lead to hanging out over coffee or something.

But no. Lena continued to show up exactly five minutes before their massage start time, kept things civil and mostly impersonal when they talked, and invited Kara to leave before she got up off of the table.

Kara was so used to greeting clients after a massage with water to talk about how it had gone and things to do between visits that it just felt odd to massage and take off with a person still on the table.

Or, at least, that’s what she’d been telling herself.

But this last massage Kara had realized that as much as she touched Lena—everywhere but the primary erogenous zones—Lena had never touched her back.

Not once.

Not from the beginning.

Not a single glance of contact had been initiated by Lena—not even offered to shake hands or a light touch while they were walking down the stairs.

And Kara was having a hard time not taking that personally.

Sure, she didn’t want to be in a relationship with Lena, but did that mean they couldn’t hug? Shake hands? Share a random shoulder touch like that guy was doing in that tabloid picture?

Based on real-world evidence, Lena didn’t seem to mind that touch one bit. So why did everyone get access to laid-back Lena but her?

“Uh, I think the turkey is basted,” Maggie said from behind her. “You’re probably good.”

Oh. How long had she been basting?

Now that Maggie was saying something, Kara had to admit her arm was starting to feel really hot.

“Oh. Yeah,” Kara said, finishing out her current scoop and standing back up. “I was just thinking about the seating chart.”

“Right,” Maggie said, turning toward the table thoughtfully. “Well, you have the bonus empty seat we can work with in rearranging things.”

“You never know when an extra person might show up,” Kara pointed out. “Nice to have a space for them.”

“For sure,” Maggie agreed. “But if you let me play around with the name tags I might be able to help you with your Paul situation, and send a signal to flirt with someone else.”

Kara nodded without hesitation. “Yeah. That would be good.”

Maggie didn’t look convinced. “For real?”

Kara put the mitt back on its hook. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

“I dunno,” Maggie said with a shrug. “He’s pretty good looking.”

Kara raised a brow. “Something you want to tell me?”

“For a dude,” Maggie added, holding up her hands in innocence. “If you’re into dudes, he’s a decent catch. Real job, nice house, good face, and he stays in shape. I could see you with a trail runner.”

Huh. Kara hadn’t thought of that. Trail running was something she had considered trying before. A running partner would help her get into it.

“Obviously, I’m not pushing,” Maggie said. “I’m just saying you could definitely do worse than Paul if you want to move back into dating.”

“Well, I’m not,” Kara said. “The timing is terrible. I need to focus on the business.”

“Maybe not as much as you think,” Maggie said gently. “After all, Jimmy dates plenty.”

He did. Which was fine. He liked it, whereas Kara didn’t want to deal with the headache of it at the moment.

“I promise,” she said, giving Maggie’s arm a squeeze. “If Paul hits it off with April and leaves with her, I’m cool with that.”

“Jenna’s the more likely candidate for that,” Maggie said off-handedly. “I think April might be more into you.”

That caught Kara off guard. “Seriously?”

“Yeah,” she said, eyeing Kara skeptically. “She’s pretty obvious about it. Don’t you remember how she was dancing up on you at your Halloween party?”

Kara waved that off. “That was just dancing.”

Maggie shook her head. “It’s never ‘just dancing’. Do you know how quickly your sister would be over here if I started dancing with you like that?”

“Well, that’s because I’m the hotter sister and she knows it,” Kara teased, reaching up and pushing a lock of hair away from Maggie’s face.

Maggie looked confused for a moment before Alex appeared out of nowhere and slid her arm around Maggie’s waist.

“What am I missing over here?”

To which, Maggie and Kara laughed.

“Nothing, baby,” Maggie said, pressing a kiss to Alex’s cheek. “Come help me change the seating chart.”


	29. Chapter 29

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena's Thanksgiving

“I think this might be my favorite Thanksgiving ever,” Lena confessed, looking out to the sinking sun on the horizon as she teed up her next ball on the ledge overlooking a surging ocean.

The temperature was somewhere in the high seventies, with a light humidity tempered by an incoming breeze from the sea.

Jack sent her a skeptical look. “That’s kind of sad, considering we’re not celebrating. Technically, we’re at my office.”

Lena gestured around the tropical island before stomping her feet down on the metal platform of the battleship. “Your office kicks ass.”

Lena was really glad she was tethered to said-office, too, because she and Jack were downing the Scotch like it came in barrels as they practiced teeing off.

Yes, she would definitely have a hangover in the morning. But she was on a fucking battleship, for crying out loud. It had been permanently retired adjacent to the Spheer family island.

And standing on the edge, whacking balls over the ocean, was surprisingly fun.

Wow. Whacking balls over the ocean? That was something only Kara could say with a straight face.

Lena must be really drunk for thoughts to be coming out like that.

Oh, well.

She was literally strapped to a battleship and whacking balls into the sea. If that sounded dirty, then so be it.

“I wish I could get out this way more often,” Jack said with a sigh. “It’s so good for clearing the head, you know?”

Lena took another swallow of scotch. “Yep.”

He laughed, raising his glass in salute and taking a sip. “You know, now that you mention Thanksgiving, there is something I’m grateful for today.”

“What’s that?”

“Heathrow security fuckups.” He leaned against his club and sent her a searching look. “Without them, we might not have met. And you’re pretty cool for not being a dude.”

“I know how shocking that is for you,” Lena said with mock-solemnity.

“Yeah,” he agreed, eyes drunk and thoughtful. “Our friendship is pretty much the longest relationship I’ve ever had with a woman.”

“That’s pathetic, Jack.”

“Don’t I know it,” he said, sending a ball sailing into the horizon.

She looked him up and down like he was hopeless. “So what’s up with that? What’s wrong with you?”

“Do you want that list alphabetical or chronological?” he replied. “I have both.”

Lena laughed, downing the two fingers of Scotch in one pull then smiling.

She couldn’t remember the last time she’d trusted someone enough to really drink with them … to let down her guard, be stupid, and whack balls.

This really was the best Thanksgiving ever.

“I’m going to help you find your woman,” she decided.

He laughed. “Don’t get your hopes up. The matchmakers have declared me hopeless.”

“Bullshit,” Lena said, lining up a shot. “You’re not hopeless. You just already like someone.”

_Whack! _Her ball sailed into the sunset.

“Whatever.” His denial was less convincing with him being on the verge of drunk.

“You do,” she pressed. “At first I didn’t know why you played things up with us in front of cameras. But I figured it out. You’re trying to make someone jealous.”

“With a lesbian?” He snort-laughed before going for a new ball.

“With the idea you could turn a lesbian straight,” she countered. “You want someone to be curious about you. Who is she?”

He stared out at the ocean. “No one.”

“Who is she?”

“No one,” he said more forcefully.

Lena smile. “Isn’t it interesting how _no one_ always ends up being _someone_?”

_Whack! _“Nope.”

“Well, _I_ think it’s interesting,” Lena said, squaring up for her next shot. “And I’m going to find out who she is.”

“You’re worse than my sister.”

Lena laughed at that. “Yes, I am. And don’t you forget it.”

“Can’t you just leave it alone?”

Lena shook her head, unable to wipe the loose smile off her face. It was fun to see Jack like this. “Not when you’re using me as a prop to signal your sexual prowess, I can’t.”

“It doesn’t matter anyway,” he said, his voice sounding like it mattered very much indeed. “She and I won’t be getting together.”

Lena leaned against her golf club. “She’s forbidden fruit?”

“Something like that,” he muttered. _Whack!_

Lena didn’t even have to look to know he’d just made a shit shot. “Are we talking a Romeo and Juliet thing here, or something a little more Hamlet?”

“Dude,” he groaned. “You’re killing the vibe. We’re not supposed to be talking about fucking relationships. Do you want me to bring up what the rumor mill is saying about you?”

Hmm. He was right. That didn’t sound fun.

“Fuck rumors,” she grumbled.

“Would if I could,” Jack said, rolling out a new ball. “At least, then they’d be good for something.”

“Well, if we can’t talk about your secret crush, what the fuck are we supposed to talk about?” Lena asked.

“Nothing,” he replied. “Not a goddamn thing.”

Lena considered that, marveling how long it took at her current blood-alcohol level. “We just whack balls into the sunset and say nothing?”

He smiled at her phrasing, clearly liking it as he nodded. “We just whack balls into the sunset and say nothing.”

Lena looked at him for a moment … then their giant bin of balls … then the bottles of scotch, the badass battleship, and the incoming tide with Kara’s business colors appearing on the horizon.

She couldn’t remember the last time life had felt so simple. And Jack was right; talking ruined it.

“Cool,” she said, and they both rolled out fresh balls.


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \+ 50 = BONUS 😘

Part of Lena expected Kara to cancel their massage the day after Thanksgiving. But at five-minutes-to-six, Kara had been right where she was supposed to be, a big smile on her face.

Lena had the full day to get over her hangover, but a fog still seemed to hover around her, making the massage feel doubly good this time.

God, she needed this.

“You’re tender today,” Kara said, her hands working more gently than usual.

Lena didn’t reply. What could she say? That she wasn’t tender, just really horny? Or how drunk her had definitely broken her rule about not rubbing out to thoughts of one Kara Danvers?

Lena wasn’t proud of it, but it had happened. Just like the thoughts were all coming back to her now.

What a clusterfuck.

If Lena opened her mouth now, she’d probably ask Kara to ride her ass while massaging her back. The request was just sitting on the tip on her tongue.

It sounded so relaxing … well, maybe ‘relaxing’ was the wrong word. But it sounded like a perfect way to end the day. Lena wouldn’t even touch Kara. She’d lay on her hands like a good girl, while Kara rocked and rolled and went wherever the mood carried her.

Fuck, that would be so awesome. Lena was sure every muscle in her body would relax and it would be the best massage ever.

All they needed was a little straddle in the mix.

But, no.

No straddling in professional massage. No clit stimulation either.

Killjoys.

So Lena laid there and took what Kara was willing to give.

Only seven more sessions like this, then they’d be done. Lena could make it that long without propositioning the blonde. She totally could.

Totally.

Lena blanked out for a little after that—not asleep but not awake either—until Kara asked her to flip over.

She did, not even checking to see if mascara migrated this time. Who cared? Kara didn’t.

Once she was on her back, Kara went through the careful motions of making sure the sheets were at a proper drape before starting to work again. She did Lena’s right arm first, then her left. Then the flat of her hand rested over Lena’s stomach and moved around lightly.

“Hmm,” Kara said. “I’m thinking we should skip the psoas today. You’ve got a lot of inflammation in your abdomen area.”

Lena’s eyes opened. “I do?”

“Yeah,” Kara said with a smile. “What did you eat for Thanksgiving?”

Alcohol. Lots and lots of alcohol.

“If your scale says you’re five pounds heavier, don’t believe it,” Kara added. “I’m pretty sure this is mostly water retention. But massage activates the parasympathetic system in the body, allowing you to put more energy into digesting. I think this will clear out quickly.”

Kara needed to stop using big words. For some reason, Lena found it incredibly hot. The girl liked to pretend she was a dumb blonde, but there were some serious brains backing up that pretty face.

And Lena loved it when Kara forgot to play dumb. It made her want to crawl between the blonde’s legs and show her what men never got right—just once … unless Kara asked for twice. Then totally twice.

Fuck. She should not be thinking like that.

Lena should have canceled today’s massage. Instead, she’d flown back for it like a bitch in heat, ready for her next fix.

She was a mess. A total mess.

With seven more sessions to go.

_Fuuuuuuuck._

Kara’s hand stopped probing and she rested the flat of her palm on Lena’s stomach again, like it belonged there. Jesus Christ, it was so hard not to arch into her and force the hand to slide to where she really wanted it.

“What do you say?” Kara asked. “Skip the stomach?”

Lena kind of liked the hand where it was, so she was torn. “Anything worth doing there?”

“Not unless you want to fart.”

Mood obliterated, Lena’s eyes opened in a flash. “Excuse me?”

There was a little bit of a smirk in Kara’s smile as she shrugged. “It is what it is.” Her fingers probed around for a moment then zeroed in on a spot. “If I press here, there’s some gas that’s going to need to go somewhere else. And it’s probably going to find the designed exit.”

“I do _not_ have gas,” Lena said, horrified that she’d uttered the words the moment they came out.

“You may not be letting it out,” Kara countered. “But you definitely have it.”

Lena shook her head. “You must be feeling something else.”

Kara cocked a brow up, and Lena couldn’t help but wonder if the blonde had stolen the look from her. “I could press down and settle that bet really quick.”

Kara followed up on her words by doubling down on her pressure. Only then did Lena feel a pressure indicating Kara just might be on telling the truth.

“Do not press down!”

“Why?” Kara teased. “Because I’m right? The mighty Lena Luthor has gas?”

Now that she was paying attention? Yes. A lot of it. “Don’t do it!”

“Oh, how the mighty have fallen,” Kara teased, her hands still in place to fulfill on her threat of proving herself right.

Lena tried to push her hands away surprised at how easily Kara kept them where they were. The woman was stronger than she looked.

“If you fart while struggling, it’s not my fault,” Kara laughed, hunkering down and holding her ground.

Gah! Why did she have to use that word? Lena hated that word, which was why she was mortified with what she said next.

“If I fart, you’re fired.”

Lena had never seen Kara’s face light up more brightly as she laughed and held her ground.

“You want me to have to tell people you fired me because you farted on the table?” Kara tried her best for a solemn look as she shook her head, failing miserably. “That’s a bad look, Luthor. I recommend against it.”

“You signed an NDA,” Lena countered, not sure why she was being such a freak, but it seemed to entertain Kara to no end.

“So now you’re going to sue me for telling people you farted once?” she laughed. “That’s a worse look, Luthor.”

God, why did her last name sound so hot when Kara said it like that? It made Lena want to kiss her like never before.

Gas, or no gas.

Fuuuuuuuuck!

Was there anything in the world that wasn’t better with Kara around? If so, Lena hadn’t found it yet. She was everything Lena had never dared to want.

And for good reason.

“Fine!” Lena called out, making a time-out sign with her hands. “You win, okay? No stomach stuff today.”

Kara gave a little nod, not even trying to hide her continued amusement. “I thought you might say that. But just so you know, if you want help clearing some of this out—”

“I do _not_!”

“Right,” Kara said patiently. “But if you _did_—”

“I don’t.”

“I know,” Kara agreed. “But if you ever need that friend—”

“It would _not_ be you,” Lena said firmly.

“But it _could_ be,” Kara countered in a sing-song tone.

“But it _won’t_ be,” Lena answered in the same chiming tone.

“Why not, Ms. Luthor?” Kara teased, uncovering her right leg so she could work on it and securing the sheet between Lena’s legs. “Are you trying to impress me?”

Normally, Lena didn’t think twice about the positioning of the sheet; but today, she definitely felt the brush of fabric in a spot that felt much too good.

“No,” she replied quickly. “I just prefer not to do certain things in front of other people.”

“But it’s therapeutic, and I signed an NDA,” Kara pointed out. “I promise you you’ll definitely feel better after. You’ve probably felt bloated all day.”

She had, but she’d just attributed that to the hangover. “My intestines will figure it out, okay? Let’s just leave it at that.”

“Okay, Ms. Luthor,” Kara said, starting in on her thigh. “You’re the boss.”

Yes. She was. And fuck it all if that wasn’t going to become a fantasy she probably wouldn’t be able to get out of her mind for the rest of her life.

She definitely should have canceled today’s massage.

Definitely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm going to be away for about a week, which means no updates while I'm gone, but I promise to drop a bunch of chapters when I get back -- the 3 regularly scheduled ones and however many bonus ones your kudos get in addition.
> 
> Happy November and thanks for reading! I'll catch you in a week-ish 😊


	31. Chapter 31

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm baaaaack. 
> 
> One chapter now. The rest tomorrow.

The Monday after Thanksgiving was always quiet on the upper floors of L-Corp. Most of the top management took vacation time the following week. Only Naomi hadn’t asked for extra time off, and Lena was grateful.

There was a lot to be done while everyone was away.

She’d had an epiphany while drinking way too much scotch and whacking balls off a battleship into the ocean: Lena had set herself up to be fucked right up the ass when Lex returned to L-Corp. If she didn’t get her shit together, he was going to make her life hell in the name of making his life easy.

And the only one who could stop him was her.

For three years now, Lena had been trying to save her brother in the name of protecting their family. Lex had run away and Lena had dropped everything to float him until his return.

She’d been playing savior to the problem, and it had to come to an end. It was time to extract herself, but not in the way her brother was used to having people cut things off—like a limping animal that just lost a fight for dominance, forced to skitter away from the pack with nothing.

That would not be her.

The realization of what she needed to do had come to her as she puked scotch off the edge of the battleship and watch the contents of her stomach cartwheel down, down, down into the sea.

Sometimes, you just had to let things go and be grateful they were gone. Because holding on only made things worse.

When Lex came back, Lena needed to puke out every connection they had. She couldn’t let him stand on her shoulders to make himself look good while also putting himself in a position to piss down on her whenever he was in the mood.

The day Lex stepped back in as CEO of L-Corp, Lena needed to be gone. Period.

No negotiation. No power struggle. No transition period.

No leverage left behind, no ties left to bind.

Lena hadn’t wanted to see it before, but an hour in silence with her drunk thoughts had brought a certain dumbed-down clarity with it.

All her life, Lena had wanted to save the Luthor family like they’d saved her. When Lex had fled to avoid arrest, Lena hadn’t even blinked. She stepped up at L-Corp like a white knight waiting in the wings to play hero.

And she’d been playing hero every day since—telling herself that she was repaying some karmic debt and that Lex would be grateful.

But he wouldn’t.

Of course, he wouldn’t.

Duh.

Who was she even kidding thinking bullshit like that? The closest Lex could come to being grateful was to acknowledge that someone hadn’t sucked. Beyond that, he resented acknowledging any effort that surpassed his own.

He would never respect Lena or her efforts in his absence. In Lex’s mind, her every success was a gift bestowed on her by the generosity of his family. If they hadn’t adopted her, she would be nothing.

And he was right. If it weren’t for his family, she would probably be dead. Long ago.

But she wasn’t dead. She had been adopted by an obscenely rich family instead. And she was done feeling guilty, or like she owed Lex something for that. She didn’t owe that fucker a single thing, and it was time to extract herself from the clusterfuck that was Lex Luthor.

One company at a time.

Lena had kept things pretty clean the past three years when it came to keeping her interests separate from L-Corp’s main holdings, but there had a been a little bit of overlap here and there … contracts signed that benefited both companies … legal agreements that Lex could use to tie up her investments and hold them over her head until they withered and died on the vine while she watched.

Currently, he could do that to her if he wanted.

If he played nice, he wouldn’t. But Lena couldn’t go all-in on that bet. She had to do what she had to do.

That’s why she was at her desk, reviewing all the contracts and financials—marking every possible angle of legal leverage Lex’s lawyers might use to tie up her assets before removing the information from L-Corp servers.

It was time to do some pre-emptive snipping in a way that put her in the clear and made Lex look like a petty piece of shit if he tried to lay claim.

No matter what she did next, Lex would declare it unfair. In his mind, she owed the air in her lungs to him, not to mention any money or assets she’d built. He let her keep those things so long as they appeared to be scraps beneath his notice. But if she refused to enable him from the shadows, he’d want to keep those scraps.

He’d claim they were _his_ scraps.

Lena had to make it so that every lawyer—and even public opinion—disagreed. If he went into full-narcissist mode, the reflection he got back from everyone he sought out to enable his delusions would have to shut him down.

It felt like a gift from the universe that she’d had this aha-moment while everyone was on vacation. Otherwise, someone loyal to Lex might sniff out what she was up to and pass word along.

But, nope. Nearly all of his loyalists were out of state, if not out of the country.

So, this Thanksgiving, Lena was grateful for corporate bigwigs who took extended vacations, leaving her alone with a loyal assistant and no distractions to get her affairs in order.

Lena closed the file on one of her active-lifestyle companies, adding a green post-it note for Naomi’s reference. She was about to put the folder to the side when her hand paused—finger tapping a few times on the physical folder before she reached for her computer’s mouse and navigated to the virtual folder that would be deleted off of L-Corp servers by the end of the week.

She drilled down to the _Sales_ folder and into the reports.

If Kara was doing due diligence on getting bids on equipment for her new studio, she should have reached out for a quote from this particular company.

Clicking on the rep over their area, Lena scanned his report and found Kara’s studio, her eyes quickly moving to the quote.

It was high—not for their usual clientele, but for Kara and Jimmy? Lena didn’t know what kind of loan they were taking out to relaunch their business, but she knew Kara was painting the mural on the wall herself, not hiring someone to do it.

They were bootstrapping it, which meant they were probably looking at mid- or low-price equipment. Not premium.

And yet, they deserved the best.

After a beat of thought, Lena reached over and pressed the intercom button on her phone. “Naomi?”

_“Yes?”_

“Get Andy Richards on the phone for me, please.”

_“One moment.”_

Naomi clicked off and Lena moved on to the next folder, reviewing for possible conflicts until her phone beeped lightly.

_“I have Andy Richards for you.”_

“Thank you,” Lena said. “Put him through.”

Another soft beep.

“Hello, Andy. Hope I’m not disturbing you.”

_“Just riding up a ski lift in Whistler, Ms. Luthor. What can I do for you?”_

Ah, yes. There was snow in some parts of the world right then.

“I’m looking at one of your quotes, at the moment,” she said. “Bid 109642. It’s a downtown location near corporate. You have the contact name listed as Jimmy.”

_“Right. I remember that bid. The one by Whole Foods. What about it?”_

“I want our best equipment in there,” Lena said. “Even if we take a loss. You’re going to underbid everyone.”

_“Uh, it’s a very small account so competition includes knock-off Amazon vendors.”_

“Who are selling third-rate bullshit,” Lena said with distaste, more to herself than to him.

_“You and I know that, but the two kids starting this studio are looking that direction pretty hard. They both got really quiet after receiving their quote.” _

“I want you to give them a new one—one they can’t refuse. Include installation and send that balance up to me.”

_“Okay,” _he drawled, sounding hesitant._ “What reason am I going to give them for changing their quote so drastically?”_

“You’re a salesman. Read the room and make it work. Just make sure you walk out with that account, and they open that studio with the best. Understood?”

_“Yeah. Got it. And do I mention you in all this?”_

“No. You do not.”

_“Okay, then. I’ll make it happen.”_

“Thank you, Andy.”

_“You’ve got it Ms. Luthor.”_

“Enjoy skiing.”

_“Will do, ma’am.”_

Then they both hung up and Lena ignored the little twist in her stomach that felt both good and bad at the same time as she turned her attention back to the next folder on the stack.

“What was that about?” an all-too-familiar voice said from her doorway, followed by—

“Sorry Ms. Luthor,” Naomi said in a rush. “He wouldn’t let himself be announced, and you were on the phone.”

Lena knew exactly who she was going to see when she looked up.

Lex. With a panicking Naomi next to him.

Lena looked her brother up and down, noting his tan and a bit of a belly under some shirt that looked like it had been purchased at Tommy Bahama.

So this was it. He was finally touching base.

“Don’t worry about it, Naomi,” she said. “We both know how he is. You can leave us now.”

Still looking sheepish, Naomi ducked out of sight.

“Are you here legally?” she asked her brother.

He waved the question off. “Don’t worry about it. I’m in the clear.”

Lena leaned back in her seat and frowned. “Thanks to some asshats who tried to kill me.”

“Oh, c’mon. It’s not like you couldn’t handle them. My dad trained you well.”

“_Our_ dad,” she corrected. “He might not be my father, but he’s my dad.”

“Whatever. That’s actually what I came to talk to you about. Let's take a ride.”

Lena didn’t move. “Where?”

“I signed us up for a tee time at ten,” he said with smug grin. “You in?”

Oh, she was so in.


	32. Chapter 32

Her dad had been right about brushing up on golf playing in Lena’s favor. Lex hadn’t given her shit since the third hole, and they were actually talking business.

“It just makes sense for you to stay on as COO,” he said, lining up a putt. “You’re good at logistics and I’m good with people—”

Lena laughed.

He raised an eyebrow. “What? You’re saying I’m not?”

“Oh, you’re good with whoever you want to be good with,” Lena replied. “I just don’t agree on who we should be good to.”

He shook his head. “That’s why we should stick to our strengths. You might not like the people we have to work with, but we need to be able to work with them.”

He took his putt, the ball catching some grain and missing the hole by six inches.

“I disagree,” Lena said, not mentioning the fact that he’d just put himself over par yet again. His game had definitely slipped since she’d last seen him. “It’s a big world out there. There are very few people we _need_ to work with.”

“You prove my point when you say naive things like that,” Lex said stepping into his last shot and taking it without much thought. The ball went in.

“We see things differently,” Lena said. “But now that you’re back, you can do things your way while I get out of your way.”

“I’m surprised,” he said, picking up his ball. “I thought you’d be excited to work together … to be part of the family legacy.”

“Oh, I plan on making dad proud,” Lena replied. “Just not on your terms. I think we both know we are two cooks that should never share a kitchen. It just makes hell for the rest of the staff.”

Lex shrugged. “We pay them well. They can deal.”

Perhaps. But the point was that Lena didn’t want to. She actually wanted to enjoy showing up for work every day.

“I have my own companies, Lex,” she said. “I was building them before you disappeared, and I’ve kept them going separately from family holdings the whole time you’ve been gone. When you’re cleared of your charges, L-Corp is yours.”

“Of course, it is,” he said. “Don’t act like you’re doing me any favors by stating the obvious. I’m the one trying to do you a favor by saying you can stay another year, as part of a transition. I can help build the credibility of your side-ventures, and provide a nice salary as you transition back to small-time interests.”

Wow. There really was no limit to her brother’s arrogance.

“And this is me saying, _No, thank you_,” Lena said, walking over to the cart to indicate she was ready to move to the next hole. “I appreciate your offer, but I will pass.”

Lex didn’t move. “I don’t think you understand what that means.”

“Oh, I do,” Lena replied, taking a seat behind the steering wheel. “And I’m still declining. When you’re _legally_ allowed back into the country, L-Corp is all yours. I won’t be sending mixed messages. Everyone will know you’re the man.”

It was Lex’s least-favorite kind of compliment: the kind that came with responsibility attached. They always left him a little bit agitated.

That’s why Lena always complimented him that way. Someone had to remind him that there were other things he should be doing than patting himself on the back all the time.

He could just suck it up if he didn’t like being called out.

“I’m offering you an unbelievable opportunity, Lena,” he said, clearly annoyed. “Given all my family has done for you, how can you say no?”

He always did know how to hit back. Very few people referred to her adopted status anymore. Even reporters were starting not to mention it. But Lex would taunt her with it to the grave. She was sure of it.

All she could do was get over it.

“Like this,” she said. “_Thank you for your generous offer, but I’m afraid I must decline._ Does that make it more clear for you?”

“That you are choosing to compete with me rather than work for me?” he said, the disgust that he’d been swallowing back to play nice with her creeping up into his expression. “Yes. And I will fucking crush you.”

“You can try,” she replied, keeping her expression cool.

“Oh, please,” he laughed. “I won’t even need to try. You’re a mid-sized fish in the fucking pond without me. I’m a whale in the ocean. I can finish you with a phone call.”

Lena raised her brow, ignoring the fear swimming in her stomach. “Will that before or after we finish here? I’m two strokes ahead with five holes left. How about we find out if you can beat me without phoning a friend?”

The clench of Lex’s jaw she got in reply was worth every second she’d spent practicing during the past eight weeks.

She really needed to follow her dad’s advice more often.


	33. Chapter 33

ONE

MONTH

LATER

Sliding her hands under the smooth length of Lena’s back, Kara didn’t stop until her arms were fully cradled under her. Then she pushed up from underneath, raising Lena up slightly off of the table as she slid her hands back out and letting the woman's own body weight work with gravity to create the pressure on her muscles.

Lena really liked this move. She’d never said as much out loud, but she always relaxed into it and almost always let out a little sigh after.

So, of course, Kara was giving the move a little extra love as she showed Lena what could be waiting for her in the new year if she kept having regular massages.

Because this was their last scheduled session.

Tonight was the night Kara found out if she’d earned the right to stay on board as Lena's personal massage therapist, or whether she was about to be scrapped with the golf lessons.

The good news was that, no matter what, she’d gained a friend. Kara was certain of that.

She and Lena just ... clicked.

Talking was so easy, and Kara knew for a fact Lena liked being around her. The woman might try to keep things professional, but Kara could totally tell.

Lena liked having her around.

When the glide of Kara’s reached the spot right above where bra clasps usually landed, Lena’s back gave a little pop of release.

“That’s right,” Kara said with a smile, doing her best to ignore the fact that the current move basically forced her to look straight down Lena’s cleavage. “Let the tension go, and let your spine fall back into its natural alignment.”

Kara let her hands finish the journey up Lena’s back before cradling the woman’s neck in her hands and working the muscles in the way that got Lena releasing all her weight into Kara’s hands.

“Just like that,” she said, gently working the area.

Lena’s muscles responded so well these days. Kara knew them and they knew her, and they had all seemed to have come to an agreement not to fight each other.

Everyone could just relax and still come out winning. Kara got to win by doing the impossible of getting Lena to let go, while Lena got to win by actually loosening up.

Kara always hated bringing the dynamic to an end, but she couldn’t stay all night. The session needed to end as close to the scheduled time as possible. Lena appreciated punctuality more than she appreciated five minutes of bonus time.

“We’re at the part where you empty your mind for just two minutes while knowing that everything that needs doing will be right where you left it when we’re done.” Kara worked her hands up into Lena’s hair. “But for now you just need to relax into the knowledge that you’re awesome just as you are. And you deserve to relax for two minutes … to know that you’re enough and you’ve done enough … and you can embrace this moment knowing that everything is right where you left it and you will handle it all even better after taking a short break that’s all about letting go. Just for two minutes.”

It was amazing to feel Lena’s response to her words … to her touch. It was a bit humbling, honestly. But Kara would take it. Especially, if it earned her more sessions with the woman.

When Lena was fully relaxed, Kara lowered her head back to the table and uncradled it from her hands. Impulse had her pushing the hair away from Lena’s porcelain face so it wouldn’t tickle her and interfere with the moment.

The woman was gorgeous. Even with a little smudge of mascara under her eyes from lying face-down.

“There you go,” Kara said, still brushing hair back even though it was all cleared away. “Just like that. Feel what you’re feeling for as long as you need to. Then the two minutes will be up.”

Sometimes Lena waited five seconds. Sometimes she waited thirty. Kara felt like it was a good sign when she waited at least a full minute for once before opening her eyes.

Faded jade eyes framed by dark lashes focused on her. “Anyone who says your hands aren’t magic is a liar.”

Kara laughed. “Can I get that in writing?”

Lena smiled back. “I’ll have Naomi send you a plaque engraved with it to hang in your massage room.”

Lena then glanced over to an envelope laying on the table where the contracts had been on Kara’s first trip down into the dungeon.

“In the meantime, I offer a Christmas bonus and a thank you for all the help you’ve been over the past few months.”

Kara didn’t fight the cocky smile that tugged at her lips. She knew she was good, but it felt good to hear Lena say it.

“Please take it with you on the way out,” Lena said with a smile. “I hope it helps you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.”

“That is seriously so nice,” Kara said, crossing the room and opening the envelope. “It’s—”

She froze.

$5,000?

“Lena, this is too much. This is the same bonus my sister got from L-Corp.”

“You’re an employee, too,” Lena said from the massage table.

“Yeah,” Kara replied. “A _super_ part-time employee.”

“And I’ve been paying you your usual rate for coming here these past three months,” Lena said. “But we both know you’re worth more. And we both know I can afford more.”

She just had a way of saying things that made everything all fit in a tidy box, even though it shouldn’t.

“Seriously,” Kara said, holding the envelope back out toward her. “You could drop a zero off of this and it would still be too much.”

There went that signature eyebrow—high and arched over a skeptical gaze as Lena stayed on the table, hair tousled and body covered only by a sheet. For a moment, Kara could only stare.

“Kara, I’ve bought bottles of wine for more than that. You’re worth more than a bottle of wine, wouldn’t you say?”

Dammit. How were her comebacks always so airtight?

“You work hard, and you deserve a really good holiday to get you ready to deal with your launch in January. So splurge a little.”

Kara wanted to say she couldn’t take it, but a cushion of five thousand bucks could be landing in her lap at a better time.

“You really are too cool, you know that?” Kara said, wanting to hug the woman, but not knowing how to go about it given Lena’s current nakedness.

“It’s fun to help people who are working hard,” Lena said with a shrug. “I know you’ll spend it well.”

She would try—for sure—but she had more important things to think about at the moment.

“So…” Kara said with a big smile. “Should we keep the same time slots moving into next year?”

Lena shook her head. “No. This is the end of the line. It’s been wonderful, but it’s time to move on.”

Wait. Was she serious? Kara couldn’t tell. “For real?”

Lena nodded. “For real. I said three months, and it’s been three months, plus one day.”

It had? Kara hadn’t paid attention.

“This has been helpful, but I won’t have time moving into the new year. It’s perfect timing, really. Both of us need to step up at work, come January, and I’m going to need my Tuesdays and Fridays open just as much as you will.”

No.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen.

Kara had seen the envelope when they first walked in and dared to hope it was another contract … that Lena was making another offer—for massage this time.

But, no.

It was money.

Kara felt frozen. “So this is it? This is our last session?”

Lena nodded. “This was our last session.”

“Even though I have magic hands?”

Lena sent her a weak smile. “It’s time for those hands to do other people some good. You’ve done what you can for me.”

Why did that not feel remotely true? “I want to do more.”

“I would love for things to be different, too,” Lena said, her tone suspiciously even. “But we have no more business with each other.”

“So how about being friends?” Kara offered. “We can just hang out sometimes.”

Lena shook her head. “That won’t be happening.”

“Why not?”

“Mainly because I don’t hang out,” Lena said. “Also, because I’m still gay and you have the unique gift of being irresistible. Even to me. And I don’t have time to dance the dance of unrequited affection. I’m sure you understand.”

Damn. What could Kara say to that? Especially with her heart pounding so hard and her head feeling so light.

“Unless you’re feeling more gay than you were three months ago?” Lena teased with a playful pop of her eyebrow.

Fuck, yes. Was there a Kinsey 10? Because seeing Lena Luthor wearing only a sheet with her hair tousled to high heaven was calling out like a Bat signal to Kara’s bisexual side.

But she couldn’t say that.

Kara cleared her throat. “If there was a woman on the planet who could tempt me” —who _does_ tempt me— “it would be you, Lena. But … I’m still not into bondage and I’m still looking for a guy.”

Lena’s eyes dropped. “My loss.”

Kara laughed again. “Whatever. You can have anyone.”

“Just not anyone in this room,” Lena replied before lightening the mood with a smile. “But I’m really excited to see how your gym does. I’ll be watching.”

Man, the woman shifted gears fast. Sensing an exit ramp from awkward, Kara made the jump with her. “Yeah?”

Lena nodded. “Won’t be able to help myself.”

Kara blushed for some reason. “Awesome. Do you have Instagram?”

Lena hesitated, then nodded. “I have an account that I use to monitor my businesses. I don’t post, though.”

“You should follow my business account,” Kara said, getting excited again. “We’re going to be posting some great photos. The east wall mural is so kickass. The pictures of people posing in front of it are going to be epic.”

“Okay,” Lena said. “I’ll follow you.”

“Sweet,” Kara said giving a little hop before realizing Lena was waiting for her to leave.

Seriously? Just like that? “Is it cool if I wait for you to get dressed and give you a goodbye hug?”

“No,” Lena said. “We’ll end this like every other session.”

Things went back to feeling wrong really quickly.

“Thank you, again, Kara. It was a pleasure working with you.”

“You … too,” Kara choked out, looking for another out and not finding one. “I’m going to miss you, just so you know.”

“You, too,” Lena said. “But I know you’ll do well.”

“Same with you.” She wanted to mean it, even as it felt like a lie.

“Happy holidays, Kara.”

“Happy holidays, Lena.”

Then Lena moved to show that she was waiting for Kara to leave so she could get off the table and get back into her robe.

It was time for Kara to go. And nothing felt more wrong than doing exactly that.

But she did it anyway. And she pulled out the whiskey as soon as she got home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos chapters coming later today/night!


	34. Chapter 34

Three hours away from the city, in the same living room Kara had spent every Christmas in since she was born, she and Alex watched their parents unwrap yet another layer of their joint present.

“My goodness!” Kara’s mom said, opening the latest box. “How many times did you wrap this?”

Kara shared a look with her sister. “I didn’t count.”

“Me neither,” Alex said.

They may or may not have been a little tipsy as they wrapped their parents’ present the night before. They hadn’t wanted to give their parents just an envelope for Christmas, so they’d wrapped it like one of those Russian nesting dolls.

Eight boxes in, and their parents were still unwrapping.

“We just kept going until we ran out of differently sized boxes,” Alex confessed. “Keep going. You’re almost there.”

_Maybe,_ was all Kara could think. If memory served, there was still a ways to go.

Still, at least the buildup would be worth it. She and Alex had been wanting to get their parents this particular present since Kara was ten: A week away from the farm, on a cruise to Alaska.

Their dad wanted to fish, and her mom wanted to see all the icebergs.

A neighbor of theirs had taken an Alaskan cruise about fifteen years earlier and never shut up about it, turning cruising through Alaska into a pipe dream for their parents.

But in six months, it was going to become a real dream.

Kara and Alex would take the week off work and come watch the farm while their parents took their first real vacation ever … or they would if their parents ever got to the last box.

Kara checked the timer on her sister’s phone as she recorded—wanting to catch their reaction when they saw what it was. Apparently, they’d only been unwrapping for three minutes. It just felt longer.

“What did you two wrap in here? A piece of paper?” their dad grouched, even though Kara could see part of him was having fun saving the day with his Swiss army knife on each new layer.

“C’mon, Mom,” Alex called from behind the camera. “Just start tearing the paper. It’s all going in the recycle bin anyway.”

“But it’s so pretty,” their mom replied. “I’d hate to ruin it.”

“That’s what you said the first time you unwrapped it years ago,” Alex replied. “We got all that paper from your sewing room. It’s made the rounds and it’s not going to be used again.”

“It’s true,” Kara jumped in. “And we’re going to be here for twenty minutes unless you get a little savage.”

“Oh, well, fine then,” their mom said with the smile she got when she let herself be a little silly, and she started tearing in.

After that, things went fast, box after box disappearing until only a gold envelope remained.

“Seriously?” their father said, holding it up. “It really was just a piece of paper?”

“Open it!” Alex said, the more excited one for once.

“Well,” their mom said, taking the envelope from him and starting to open it. “Whatever it is, I’m sure it’s…”

She stopped talking the moment she saw the tickets inside.

“Oh, my,” she breathed, looking up at them. “Is this for real?”

“It’s for real,” Kara said, sharing a look with her sister as their dad went for a look.

“I’m going to need my glasses,” he said fumbling at his pockets for them. “What does it say?”

“Alaska, honey,” their mom answered. “Airfare and a cruise for two.”

“With us watching the farm,” Alex added proudly.

Their father grew still. “Are you serious?”

Alex nodded. “Yep. There’s even a pre-paid fishing package in there. You get to go out on a boat with a local while mom gets to stay on land shopping craft stores.”

Their dad looked shell-shocked while their mom seemed dumbfounded.

“This is too much,” she breathed.

“No,” Kara replied. “It’s perfect and you deserve it.”

Her mom shook her head. “You can’t afford this.”

“We can, and we did,” Alex said with a proud smile.

“Business is good,” Kara agreed.

“But you’re moving locations,” her mom argued. “And losing a month of income in the process. You can’t spend money now.”

“Well, we did,” Alex said, not letting the pushback get her down. They’d been planning on objections in this vein. “I got a great Christmas bonus so don’t worry about us. Just start planning your trip. Six months will pass before you know it.”

“Girls,” their father said softly. “Your mom is right. This is too much.”

Kara shook her head, unable to keep from smiling. “No, Dad. Not a penny of it is on credit. It’s paid for and it’s yours. So get used to it. You’re going to Alaska.”

When she and Alex had dreamed this gift up in their room when they were young, they’d always imagined it would be the best Christmas ever. And watching her mom tear up while her dad pulled her into a side-hug made it official.

This really was the best Christmas ever.


	35. Chapter 35

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena has a chat with her dad
> 
> 50 Kudos = Bonus 😘
> 
> (Sometimes, when you're writing, there's a chapter that just wants to be written. You can argue with it and tell it it's superfluous, but it doesn't care. This is such a chapter. It demanded to be both written and included. So here it is. Hope you enjoy!)

It was Lena’s first Christmas in a remote cavern in the middle of nowhere. But that was where her dad was spending his days, so she’d loaded her plane with crates of olives and nuts and made the trip.

Her dad might be into the simple life of cave-dwelling and steel working these days, forsaking all of life’s finer amenities, but he’d never say no to olives or almonds. And he would feel compelled to share, so Lena brought enough for a small village.

It wasn’t much, but she knew her father would refuse more.

The cavern itself was stunning—laden with un-mined gems that made it light up with a single torch. Lena had never seen anything like it.

After moving her gift into the cool of the cave, they’d gone outside to sit in the sun and talk. That was where Lena filled her dad in on her plans—plans that currently had one eyebrow raised.

Some people said Lena got her signature look from her dad. If so, she could only hope she did the look justice because she always felt like she was five years old when her dad did it.

“You think you’re going to make cannabis legal under a Republican president?” he asked.

Lena shrugged. “When you think about it, it’s the most likely scenario. A democrat would take way too much heat for legalizing. It almost has to be a republican who does it. And we have one in the White House now, so ‘aim big’, right?”

Her dad nodded, following the logic without further explanation. “Which would impact sales on approximately 75% of your brother’s big pharma prescriptions in indirect competition.”

“Yep,” she said, not even trying to hold back her smile. “I’m also suddenly in the mood to move into the golf business, too. Those are the only areas I plan on competing with L-Corp. Golf equipment will be head-to-head competition on quality, and drugs via disrupting the playing field. It’s time to decriminalize natural medicine.”

“I agree,” her dad said, still leafing through her plans. “But your brother will go for your throat.”

“I know. And I don’t expect you to play favorites or skew the game in my favor. I’m just letting you know why I’m leaving L-Corp and why I won’t be coming back to save Lex’s ass if he shits the bed again.”

“I think that’s wise of you.”

Not smart. Wise. Lena smiled, feeling bolstered. “I’m also planning a party sometime around the Spring Equinox—when the weather is good—to showcase exactly where the line of delineation stands between our offerings.”

Her dad nodded, but with concern knitted into his brow. “He’s going to blackball you.”

“I know.” Those words came with a little less enthusiasm. It hadn’t happened yet, but Lena knew it would. Lex would make everyone choose between them, then cut off everyone who didn’t choose him. Because that’s how he was.

It was going to be a rough ride, but she was ready to prove herself.

Her dad closed her portfolio and handed it back to her. “Sounds like it’s going to be an exciting new year.”

“That it is,” Lena agreed, letting him see her nerves a bit as she took the portfolio.

“How are you doing on support?” he asked.

“All my companies have great staffs, and everyone is staying on,” she said. “I’m good.”

“At work,” he pointed out. “But what about after work? Do you have anyone?”

Oh. That.

“It … hasn’t been a priority,” Lena replied. “I’m working all the time anyway. I don’t have time for a relationship.”

He didn’t look convinced. “My sources tell me you spend several hours a week at your club. Clearly, you have some time.”

“That’s … more about distraction,” she confessed. “There was someone.”

Her dad watched her closely, those gentle, brown eyes looking at her like he cared about this over everything else. “_Was_ someone? Or _is _someone?

“I…” God, what was she supposed to tell him?

“Tell me about her,” he said gently.

Lena felt herself panic, heart racing as her mind sought some way around the request.

“Do you love her?” he asked.

Shit.

Her eyes locked on the rocks beneath their feet. “Yeah.”

“When did you meet her?”

“September,” Lena confessed. “I offered her a relationship and she asked for a job instead. She’s looking for a man.”

His large hand came up to rest on her back. “Oh, honey. I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Lena said, trying to shrug away the tears stinging at the corner of her eyes all of a sudden. “Expected, even. I just miscalculated on her sexuality and got my hopes up too soon.”

“That doesn’t sound like you,” her dad replied. “You are many things, my dear, but an optimist is not one of them.”

True. Very true.

“So why is this still bothering you three months later?” he asked.

“Probably because I gave her the job,” Lena sighed.

There went the eyebrow.

“I made the mistake of getting to know her,” Lena confessed. “There’s something about her … almost like a gravitational force. All it takes is one thing—a look, a touch, the sound of her voice—and it’s like I fall into some kind of orbit with her. And the longer I spend with her, the closer the orbit gets. I’ve never felt anything like it before and I don’t know how to handle it.” God, now she was even rambling like Kara. “I mean, I just cut things off with her a few days ago. She’s technically fired at this point. But I just have this sense she’s going to loop back into my space and pull me in again.”

“Wow,” her dad said, removing his hand and looking at her. “I think that’s the longest I’ve ever heard you talk about someone you’re dating.”

“We’re not dating,” Lena corrected. “She’s straight.”

“Well, she sounds stupid,” her dad decided and Lena had to laugh.

“She’s not stupid.”

“Fine. Of average intelligence—at best.”

Lena didn’t fight him on that one. Mostly because she didn’t consider that a negative quality. Being smart rarely made anyone happier, and Kara’s natural effusion for life was one of Lena’s favorite qualities about her.

“What’s she like?” her dad asked, tone still gentle without being patronizing.

“Kind,” Lena answered without having to think about it. “Genuinely kind and good. Guileless. And she has the whole peacemaker vibe going, where she always tries to weigh every perspective into her own point of view before passing judgment.”

Her dad nodded. “Which would explain her miscommunication of boundaries with you. She’s a people pleaser. She sends signals that please.”

Reluctantly, Lena nodded. “Yes. But she’s not manipulative with it. She has no aim outside of making sure everyone feels seen and included.”

“Hmm.” Her dad seemed to consider that, which was odd to her. This might be the most she’d ever talked about a romantic interest with her dad, but he’d also never asked. This whole dynamic was a first for them, and she wasn’t sure how to take it.

“You should hear her talk to the aquariums when she doesn’t think anyone is listening,” Lena said with a little smile.

“She’s been to the house?”

“Yeah. She was my massage therapist for that mandatory golf training you had Naomi force me into.”

He looked intrigued. “You let her massage you at the house?”

She glanced at him, concerned. “Was that not okay?”

“No, it’s fine,” he replied. “It’s just a change. You’ve never had such services at the house before, as far as I know.”

No. She hadn’t.

“Also, I can see how that could send you to your club on a regular basis,” he added. “Allowing someone who sparks those feelings in you to handle you like that?”

“I know,” she groaned. “Stupid.”

He nodded. “Also, very telling…”

Part of her was glad when he chose not to elaborate on that.

“How did you part ways?” he asked.

“We finished our negotiated time frame, I gave her a Christmas bonus, and that was that.”

“And yet, there is no finality in your voice,” he pointed out. “I’m guessing that’s because you don’t want there to be. You still want her.”

The only thing Lena hated more than the fact he was right was the fact that he’d seen through her so easily. “Stupid. I know.”

Her dad shook his head. “No. Not stupid, at all. There is clearly something good in this girl, and your heart senses it.”

That was true enough.

“The things with hearts, though, “ he added. “Is that they sometimes lock into the potential of things, and not the current reality. Hearts often know _what_, but they rarely know _when_ because everything is present-tense with a heart. They may keep life’s beat, but they have no sense of timing. They only feel what they feel in the now.”

So true.

“This woman you speak of sounds like just the kind of person I would choose for you, except for one massive disqualifier.”

Lena felt herself take a breath and hold it. “What’s that?”

Her dad’s eyes searched hers before choosing his words. “Well, assuming you read her sexuality correctly—which I’m going to assume you did—it means that when this woman is forced to choose between you and fear, she chooses fear. And no one like that can last in our world. Fear precipitates failure. So, in a way, you are lucky her fear is stronger than even her gold-digging tendencies.”

Lena shook her head. “She doesn’t have those.”

Her dad chuckled. “Everyone has those.”

“Well, then, hers are highly tempered,” Lena said. “She looks at things as sees the work required, not the price that could be charged.”

His head tilted in interest at that. “Really? That is unusual. I can see why that would attract you.”

“It does,” she breathed. “It really does.”

“But it does not change the fear issue,” he reminded her. “Any woman who fears judgment more than she loves you is not only unworthy of you, but incapable of surviving next to you. She would be nothing more than a bomb waiting to go off into your face. And that’s the last thing you need.”

“I know,” Lena said, the words feeling like they were taking a year off her life—minimum.

“Yet, I am encouraged by how much she has opened you up,” he pointed out. “I like the softness in your face as you talk about her. I’ve never seen you like this.”

“Like I said, it’s a first for me.”

“Yes, I see that. Have you told her how you feel?”

Lena shook her head. “She doesn’t want it.”

“Have you offered it?”

Again, she shook her head.

“Interesting. So this girl isn’t the only one choosing fear. That’s another first.”

“No,” Lena said, not willing to let that stand. “It’s respect. I made my attraction to her very clear and she refused me just as clearly. To pursue her beyond that is disrespectful.”

“She knows you’re attracted,” he pointed out. “But does she know you care? I can tell you from experience, the difference there can mean a lot to a woman.”

Lena considered that, then shook her head. “She doesn’t want me to care. She wants to be friends. She wants to hang out.”

Another look of surprise. “She’s middle-class?”

Lena nodded.

“A rare combination, indeed,” he mused, as if getting back into the idea of liking Kara … even though he didn’t even know her name yet.

“Yeah,” Lena agreed.

“You’ve convinced me that neither of us have heard the last of her,” he said, straightening his posture. “But the uniqueness of her appeal does nothing to change what stepping into your orbit—as you phrase it—will demand of her.” His large hand rested on her arm in a reassuring gesture. “I know it was hard, but you were right to let her go. And you’ll be right to let her go any time she comes to you with an excuse she holds dearer than she holds you.”

Dammit. Why did she want to cry? She hated crying—especially in front of her dad.

“Time will tell if the two of you are meant to share a life together, or if she appeared in your life simply to renew a belief that love is possible so you can open your heart to someone else—”

Lena was pretty sure it wasn’t that last one.

“—but what I love, in any event, is how many times I’ve seen you smile in the last five minutes.” He gave her arm a little squeeze. “It’s good to see you twitterpated.”

“Not that it’s doing me any good,” she grumbled.

He shook his head. “I disagree. Smiles—real ones, not the horse-and-pony show ones—have always been few and far between with you. From the beginning. The first time I laid eyes on you in that orphanage, you looked like you were four going on forty. When we got you home, you never played like a child. Dolls confused you. Imaginary friends were a waste of your time. Boogeymen needed to show themselves to earn your concern. You were never one to jump at shadows or stay awake after a scary story. You’d experienced too much reality by that young age to let fantasy hold sway when you were conscious. It’s always had to wait until you were unconscious to wheedle its way in.” That thought earned her a look of concern as he switched topics. “How is sleeping going these days?”

“Same,” she said, thinking back to the morning on the plane. “Although…”

“Although?” he prompted.

“I…”

“Yes?”

“This woman…”

“How did I know we were going back there?” he said with a smile.

Lena couldn’t help but smile, too, but it was short-lived. “If I listen to her voice—like, if I have it playing on a speaker or something—I can sleep.”

He sat up straight at that. “Really?”

It felt like weight left her to finally confess that to someone. “Yeah. Well, it only happened once—”

“Why only once?”

“Because I haven’t done it since—”

“Why not?” he pressed.

“Because … it felt weird. Wrong, maybe? Like a violation?”

He waved that off. “If it works, it works. Take the win.”

“But isn’t that—”

“I don’t care,” he said, not letting her finish the thought. “This is your health we’re talking about here. Sleep. Something that big impacts not only your life quality but life-expectancy. If listening to this woman’s voice gets you sleeping through the night, take the win. I don’t give a shit if someone’s sensibilities are ruffled. Let them sleep two hours a night for just a week and see if they change their minds.”

Lena felt something a lot like hope fill her.

“Accept the gift, Lena,” he urged. “If the universe wants to hand you a cure, take it. Understood?”

“Okay,” she said, still feeling uncertain while leaning into his certainty.

There were a few beats of silence before he reached into the pocket of the leather blacksmith apron he wore just as easily as he’d ever worn a suit jacket. “I made something for you.”

That perked her right up. “Yeah?”

He pulled out a knife, sheathed in leather. “A small blade, as tall as a heart,” he said, handing it over to her.

She took it from him like a fragile thing, even though it was clearly made of bone and steel. “You made this?”

“After nine months of making a whole lot of terrible things that were turned into scrap, yes,” he said with a satisfied smile as she pulled the blade out and marveled at the visible folds in the metal and the razor sharpness of the blade.

The knife was as sharp as a scalpel. Lena could easily cut herself if she wanted to. “Why the size of a heart?”

That got a little smile out of him. “Ironically enough, while sitting out here surrounded by stars and nature, I just kept thinking about how it was time to set yours free. You’ve spent a lifetime having people use yours against you as a weakness, and I think it’s time for you to learn all the ways a heart is your greatest strength.”

“A strength with no sense of timing,” Lena joked.

Her dad laughed. “Indeed. That is what your mind is for—to balance the heart. But you can’t let rationale replace your heart. That is how the powerful lose their way. And I can’t help but think you are on your way to becoming quite powerful, my dear.”

Lena studied the knife with renewed interest—from its ruby hilt to its bone handle to the Damascus steel of the blade. It looked primitive, unrefined, and perfect.

“People don’t like to talk about it,” he said. “But the love you hear about in modern stories is one of the biggest lies ever sold. The romance of true love isn’t that it feels good, but that it entices you into the scariest things you’ll ever do. True love takes real courage from both parties, otherwise, it will implode.”

He gestured to the knife. “A lot of people think they would never have the heart to kill, but the truth is that loving is a lot scarier than killing. We kill out of fear, so a death can actually bring relief with it. But love demands that you kill parts of yourself—pieces of you your psyche insists you need to survive—in order to become what your heart knows you can be.” He tapped a finger against his forehead. “Your mind wants to see before it believes. It’s a hoarder that will tell you that you have to keep everything you’ve ever had in case you need it again.” He dropped his hand over his heart. “Your heart doesn’t think like that. It cares only for what it needs to move forward, and discards everything in its way to take that next step.”

Lena looked down at the beautiful blade, ironically growing more attached to it the longer he spoke. She felt like she wouldn’t drop it for anything.

According to her dad, that would be her brain talking, but it totally felt like her heart.

“But how do you know which is which?” she asked.

Her dad considered that for a moment. “A relationship between two people is a lot like a blade’s relationship with a grinding stone. When rough edges are encountered, sparks fly, leaving both the blade and the stone changed—old pieces clearing away to reveal what was always underneath—making room for a new sharpness where once there was no form, or a scar of harm.” His hand covered hers, and she felt relief at its familiar warmth. “Because, as we were just discussing, love changes us. And the deeper we love, the more old versions of ourselves become strangers we’re happy to leave behind. And, even knowing that, we’ll fight the next change … and the next—always wanting to cling to the old and what we know. The mind will always tell us that the next cut is too much or too hard—that we must point the knife the other way and cut the one we claim to love instead …that it’s _their _turn to bleed and _our_ turn to judge. And that is the beginning of the end.”

There was more truth to that than Lena wanted to admit, and she found herself testing the edge of the blade with her finger again as he continued.

“Love is such a delicate dance, and it’s so hard to know when heart becomes harm,” he said, and Lena knew he was thinking about her mom.

His ex-wife.

How the hell they’d stayed together as long as they had was beyond Lena. They were total opposites. Her mom was probably getting plowed by a man younger than Lena at that very moment.

Merry fucking Christmas.

Her dad didn’t believe in divorce, but her mom had made herself the exception to that belief—forever hooking up with flavors of the month when she had such a great man to call her own the whole time.

Fate could not have been less kind to a better man.

Sometimes it hurt to think how ill-served her dad had been by his arranged marriage … how many chances at happiness he had missed by marrying a scathing bitch who flaunted the fucking of other men in his face.

He deserved so much better than that, but he never complained. He just did his best to make things better. And, for that, Lena would be forever loyal.

“If there’s one thing life’s taught me,” he said, as if reading the direction of her thoughts. “Sparks fly with both love and hate, but only love watches your back and fixes its failures. Hate takes before asking for more.” He pointed to the sheath, with its compartment holding a grinding stone. “True love keeps you sharp and clean for everything else life throws at you. And that is the love you need, Lena. Not just some girl that makes you feel good at the end of the day, but a mate who can throw sparks with you when it’s time, sheath you when you need to rest, and help you operate in the real world in a way that brings about highest good and least harm. Because you, my dear, are one powerful blade.”

Those deep eyes studied Lena, making her feel five again. Just like they always did.

“When you come to me sometime in the future, and ask for my blessing to wed your chosen partner, that’s the dynamic I’m going to look for before I give my blessing.”

Lena chuckled. “No pressure, though.”

He shrugged, as if helpless in the matter. “A mate will make or break you, my dear. If I can break your mate away from you, she’s no mate at all.”

“Fair point,” Lena conceded, having no desire to argue. She never did when it came to her dad. To argue with him in any effective way required caring more than he did. So far, Lena hadn’t found a topic where she’d been able to do that. “Also, I’m really pissed I didn’t record that.”

He shook his head. “Life isn’t meant to be recorded. It’s meant to happen as it is before moving on to the next thing. You’ll remember whatever you need to remember of what I just said. You may even remember things I didn’t say. It doesn’t matter. You heard what you needed to hear, and I said what I needed to say. That’s what matters.”

So true.

God, how had she gone from being an orphan drinking bottles dosed with vodka and getting raped in a crate to being able to call this man “dad” and spending the rest of her life learning at his feet?

Sometimes Lena still couldn’t process the fact that her life was really her life.

“If you ever want to remember what I hope for you, just think of this moment and let your heart remember what it remembers.” He tapped his finger to his chest. “Listen to this. Not your mind with its ego and emotions. They will tell you to point the knife at someone else and let them take the cut while declaring yourself above reproach. But if you listen to the part of yourself that knows what needs to change, it will lead you to take the action that keeps you sharp and whole while clearing away that which snags and festers.”

Man, her eyes felt like they were boiling with the tears she was holding back. “I really needed to hear all this, Dad.”

“Well, then, I’m glad I said it.”

She looked up at him. “I miss you. A lot.” She glanced back to the gem-laden cavern. “This place is amazing and all, but I would give almost anything to have you back home—at least part-time.”

“I miss you, too,” he said softly. “It’s so easy for time to disappear here. Sometimes I think it’s been a week and it turns out it’s been a month.”

“I know the feeling,” Lena said with a smile, before making her expression more earnest. “But the house is waiting for you. Just how you left it.”

He frowned. “Well, that’s a shame. I’ve always been interested to see what you’d do with it. You know I’m leaving it to you in the will, right?”

No. She hadn’t. She might have hoped a little, but she’d never dared turn those hopes into actual expectations.

“The estate needs your steady hand and sharp eye to maintain it,” he said. “All of the preservation properties do. Lex will be fine with all the villas and vacation homes, but I’ll be leaving the local estate and the pet projects to you, so you might as well start decorating now and show me what you’re going to do with the place. Don’t turn it into a mausoleum to my memory before I’m even dead.”

“That’s not happening for decades,” she said with force.

He smiled as if the timeline was incidental. “Whatever the case, I want to see you make a home of it. And next year, when I tell you to fly out into the middle of nowhere on Christmas for a business chat, I want you to reply back that we’re both going to be a day late to the meeting, after we go to the party at your house. Do you understand?”

Lena nodded. “Yeah, Dad. I do.”

“Okay. Now get out of here and drive Lex so crazy that maybe he decides to get his act together.”

“Oh, I can totally do that,” she said before reaching across and giving her dad a long hug.


	36. Chapter 36

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara has a chat with her dad
> 
> 50 Kudos = Bonus 😘

Alex was officially on her way to Texas to spend the rest of the holiday break with Maggie, leaving Kara and her dad alone together for the ninety-minute drive home from the airport. Kara stared out the passenger window as they made their way down the dark freeway, already missing her sister.

Alex always knew what to talk about with their dad. Kara didn’t share that gift. Kara liked to talk about possibilities while her father tended to focus on problems. Pretty much any topic could come up and they’d be disagreeing within a minute.

They rarely spoke if no one else was around. It had always been that way. Kara hated it, but she also didn’t know how to fix it. Everything she did just seemed to make it worse. And the holiday had been really good so far. Not one argument and her parents were still reeling over their present.

It felt good to finally get them something that meant something … and Kara didn’t want to mess that up with yet another bickering session. So she stared out the window and watched the darkness like it was scenery.

Christmas music played on the radio. The current song was some emo version of _I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day. _It was kind of spooky and Kara had to fight the urge to change the channel.

She and her dad didn’t even tolerate the same music. That was doubly weird because Kara liked pretty much everything.

Except Christian rock.

So, of course, that was basically all her father listened to.

And now that her sister was gone, little things like that would start irritating them both back and forth, until she or her dad hit their limit and said something. But Kara wouldn’t be the one to force a conversation this time. She’d block out the music and focus on things that mattered. Like, tomorrow she would be heading back to the city to finish work on the studio.

It was almost ready.

The aerial silk and trapeze yoga had been installed right before she’d left for her parents—Kara still couldn’t believe what a steal they had gotten on that whole deal. When she’d walked in and saw it all set up, she’d actually teared up a bit.

The new space looked so damn legit Kara had moments where she didn’t believe it was theirs. She felt like she was visiting a studio she aspired to build someday, not one that already had her name on the lease.

To think that a few weeks ago she’d been mopping a moldy hole-in-the-wall thinking she might be dreaming too big by wanting something better. It felt like a life lesson: Never make do when you can make better.

That was going to be Kara’s new mantra. Hell, she was going to paint it on the studio wall so she never forgot.

Sure, it was great to make the best of what she had, but it wasn’t good to get in the mindset that she had to make do when things could be better with just a little more effort.

“So, tell me,” her dad said, pulling Kara from her thoughts. “How is my amazing daughter single? Why didn’t we get to meet a nice man this holiday?”

Ah, man. They’d almost gone an entire holiday without the topic coming up.

So close.

“The answer’s the same, Dad,” she replied. “I’m building my business right now.”

“What about the rest of the hours of the day?” he asked, sending her a look. “Even if you work twelve hours a day, there’s time, Kara. It sounds like you’re ‘hanging out’ and third-wheeling it with your sister a lot.”

Rude. “Did she say that?”

He shook his head. “No. Your mom just asks very strategic questions when we FaceTime. She worries about you.”

“She shouldn’t,” Kara said, giving his arm a little pat. “I’m doing good, Dad. Really good.”

“Then why are you alone?” he asked with a paternal frown. “You know that the Lord did not create us to face the world alone, Kara. We’re meant to face life with a partner at our sides.”

“I have partners right now,” Kara said with a shrug. “They’re just not romantic. I have Jimmy at the gym, and Alex when I need to go out.”

“Right,” her father said. “But Alex and Maggie are getting really serious, and Jimmy is going to find someone, too. I don’t want you left feeling alone when they do. You need a good man you can lean on—someone who is there for you, too.”

“Well, right now that is more stressful than helpful, Dad,” she said, looking out the window even though there was nothing to see but the faint glow of the shoulder of the road from the glow of the headlights. “I’ll get there. I’m just not there yet.”

“Well, just know that you can start bringing candidates along anytime,” he said, trying to sound chipper. “I’m used to all the estrogen, but it would be nice to have another man around at family get-togethers … and a few kids.”

Kara forced out a laugh. “Ha. You might want to talk to Alex about that. She seems closer than I am to that step.”

“Yes, but she’s a lesbian which means she can’t get pregnant naturally, and she never mentions wanting children.”

“That doesn’t mean she won’t someday,” Kara defended.

“True. And we’ll love any children she brings into her home like they’re our own, but we’re looking forward to the family you make, too.”

For a moment, Kara couldn’t breathe … for so many reasons.

First, she was really glad her sister hadn’t heard that.

Second, she really wished she hadn’t heard it either because she didn’t know how to respond … which meant it was quiet in the car for an awkward second. Or ten.

“Why have you and Jimmy never happened?” he asked, breaking it. “He seems like a stand-up guy, and you work well together.”

Not this again. Why did everyone go there?

“Everyone says don’t mix business and pleasure, so I don’t. End of story,” Kara replied, hoping it sounded a little more cordial than she was feeling. She hated conflict—especially on holidays—but she was kind of feeling the stirrings of it and there was still over an hour before they made it home.

She really didn’t want to have to get out and walk.

“Only if the pleasure doesn’t have the potential to be long-lasting,” her dad counseled.

“Right. But there’s really no way to know that in advance, is there?” Kara countered. “Everything looks good until it doesn’t.”

“True,” he agreed. “I’m just saying—”

“Jimmy and I aren’t ever going to be a thing, Dad. He’s like a brother. I’m going to be friends with him forever.”

“I’m friends with your mom forever,” he replied, his eyes staying on the road.

Silence.

Kara didn’t know what to say. She knew what she was supposed to say to keep the conversation from escalating, but she couldn’t make her mouth form the words.

So she settled with, “Dating just stresses me out right now, okay? I’m in a different place in my life.”

“I get that,” he said with a frowning nod. “But I don’t want you to get confused and start thinking that the purpose of your life is to make money or build a business. Life is about family. Relationships. Children. Everything else fades, but family is forever.”

“I know, Dad,” Kara replied, knowing her tone didn’t quite match her words. “And I appreciate that you and mom care about my happiness. I really do. But right now I’m happy with the family I’ve got. I’m not looking for a husband or children.”

“Your mom had both you and your sister by your age.”

“I know, but things are different now, okay? Lots of women are having kids later.” Or not at all.

“I know that’s the trend,” he sighed. “Trust me, I hear it all when I’m counseling people. I have a congregant now who is freezing her eggs so she can have children in her forties, but I really don’t think these feminists are thinking things through. Children are exhausting. It’s natural to have them while we’re younger and can keep up with them, and deal with them part-time as grandparents when you’re older. Being sixty when your child graduates from high school is not something people should be planning for. If it happens, it happens, but it shouldn’t be a goal. Children deserve parents who can keep up with them.”

Kara’s stomach felt like a war zone as she searched for a response. She could see where he was coming from. She totally could. But it wasn’t his call to make. Not only was he a man, but he’d already lived his life the way he wanted to … made his choices and done things his way.

Now it was Kara’s turn.

“I’ve been watching you fawn over Lena Luthor these past few months,” he said, his jaw clenching intermittently like it always did when he was trying to say things nicely. “I see how you admire her success and all the wealth that surrounds her. But she is the exact opposite of everything that brings happiness into this world, and I worry she’s rubbing off on you.”

That flipped a switch in Kara. “You’ve never even met Lena. You have no idea what you’re talking about”

“I know what I see,” he said, hands tightening lightly on the steering wheel and Kara didn’t let it slide.

“What’s your issue with her anyway? She’s a total ass kicker.”

“Language!” he cautioned.

“Oh, my gosh, Dad. I’m not twelve,” Kara groaned. “Besides, it’s true. She seriously works so hard. I don’t even know when she sleeps. She’s always working.”

“Exactly,” he snapped. “That whole family worships money and spends their lives accumulating it while indulging in every vice known to man. They are the last people you should be looking up to.”

“That’s not true.”

“It is,” her father countered. “And if you can’t even see that, maybe I should be more worried than I already am.”

“About what?” Kara snapped—totally not like her, but not something she could stop at this point.

“About the direction your life is headed,” he said, trying to bringing the tone down. “With the values you’re accepting into your life.”

“What values?”

“That’s the question, isn’t it?” he snapped, jaw clenching as he kept his eyes on the road. “Where are your values? Who do you want to be?”

“I want to be a happy person who helps people stay healthy,” Kara said. “I like making people feel good about life.”

“And that’s good,” her father said. “You’ve always been like that. It’s why we called you Sunshine when you were little. But the fact is that we can’t be children forever. There comes a point when you need to grow up and stand for something.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Kara asked, hearing the annoyance in her voice. “Stand for what? Having babies while I’m young?”

“Of course not,” her father said. “But if you’re focusing this much on business right now, you’re not going to be less focused on business five years from now. Or ten. You’ll only be more invested. If you don’t start creating relationships now, you won’t have them to fall back on when you’re older. It’s no different than with your business. If you don’t put energy into something now, it won’t be waiting for you in the future. That’s what I’m talking about. And, as your father, I don’t want you to wake up ten years from now and only have your business to hold on to. That’s a very sad life, Kara.”

She wasn’t quite sure what to say to that. All Kara knew was that the older she got, the more she wished she had taken debate in high school.

Losing arguments, when she was pretty sure she should be winning them, sucked.

“I want to see you build a home along with your business,” he said gently, sounding less confrontational. “I know the world tells you that you have to go-go-go and compete with men, but I want to remind you that God’s plan doesn’t work like that. God’s plan is for you to find a man to face the world with and to build a happy, healthy family. God wants you to have a family that makes all your hard work worthwhile.”

Kara nodded. “I get it, Dad. Okay? I hear you.”

“I don’t mean to lecture you—”

“I know,” she replied before he could remind her that this lecture was born of love, when it really didn’t feel like it. “You’re just looking out for me.”

“I’m trying,” he said with a nod. “I just want to see you happy.”

“I am.”

He looked over at her. “With someone.”

Right. “I’ll try, okay? I have weekend nights off starting in January. I promise I’ll date a bit. Okay?”

He smiled and, for some reason, Kara felt herself resenting him for it. But rather than mention it, she looked out the window.

A few minutes later, she pretended to fall asleep and they made the rest of the drive in silence.


	37. Chapter 37

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena and Kara have a chat.
> 
> 50 Kudos = Bonus 😘

Up in her high-rise office, looking over a Christmas cityscape, Lena realized that the holiday night really was more silent than most, just like the song said. It was nice.

She could have gone home after the return trip from seeing her dad, but Lena’s new office had called to her. Now that she was sitting at her desk, she had to admit she was glad she’d paid a premium for a killer view.

Leaving L-Corp meant cutting back on a lot, but she’d learned long ago never to scrimp on a location. That never paid off.

During work hours, her new office provided a stunning view of the city with the ocean as its backdrop. Tonight, the ocean was a sea of black making Christmas lights glow brighter in the city below.

It was downright beautiful—definitely better than being at home.

Home…

Her dad wanted her to decorate the house how she wanted. Now _that_ was something she’d never dared to let herself imagine. The estate was legacy … family.

Lex’s, not hers.

Or so she’d thought.

But now it was time to think differently and turn the house into a place that reflected her, just like her dad had before her. Those aquariums and all the preservations were so him. He might have the heart the size of a knife, but he could really pack in the things he cared about while making it look easy.

Lena wanted to carry on that tradition.

Her dad was passionate about preserving nature—everything from seeds to mammals—and Lena shared that passion. But what could she add to that legacy?

She was thinking about that when her phone rang. She answered out of habit, her finger accepting the call at the same moment she registered the name.

_Kara Danvers._

Shit.

What was she doing calling after midnight on Christmas?

Part of Lena wanted to hang up the moment she picked up and pretend the call dropped. But then she heard that voice.

_“Lena?” _

Dammit. Kara knew she was there.

Lena had to answer. “Hello, Kara.”

_“You answered,” _a slurred, happy voice said on the other side. Was Kara drunk? That was hard to imagine … until it wasn’t.

Then it was all too easy.

“You called,” Lena countered, keeping her tone neutral.

_“Right,”_ Kara said through a nervous laugh. _“I totally did, didn’t I? I usually call Alex when I’m drunk. But she’s on a flight to see Maggie. They each did Christmas with their families, but Alex is spending the rest of the holiday with Maggie’s family. Then they’re coming home New Year’s Day.”_

Apparently, Kara rambled even more when she was drunk. “Sounds like you’re going to miss her.”

_“Yeah,” Kara _sighed._ “But I’m super glad she’s happy, you know? It’s cool that she’s in love with someone who’s awesome. It could totally be worse. She could be in love with some asshole who didn’t treat her right. But Maggie is awesome, you know?” _

Correction: Kara was _really_ drunk.

_“So I’ll miss her. But I’m happy for her, you know?”_

Lena couldn’t help but notice Kara kept saying the word “happy” even though she sounded far from it herself. Concern bubbled up, begging Lena to investigate, even as she knew it wouldn’t be wise.

Doing so would be a one-way trip to a masochistic friend zone … unless it wasn’t?

Had something changed?

“Is there a reason you wanted to call?” Lena asked, her treacherous heart picking up with hope that drunk Kara had called on Christmas for a reason that might make her day even better.

_“Yeah,” Kara _said, sounding like she was smiling for the first time._ “To say thank you.”_

“For?” Lena prompted, hating that she was on the actual edge of her seat to hear the answer.

_“That killer holiday bonus,”_ Kara replied. “_I know you’re going to say it was nothing, but it wasn’t. Alex and I have been wanting to give my mom and dad a vacation for, like, our entire lives. Thanks to you, we finally made it happen. My parents are so stoked. And they’re thanking us, but it’s really more a gift from you so … I just wanted to say thanks. It didn’t feel right ending the day without letting you know you made this the best Christmas ever.”_

Money. Kara was grateful for money.

With that, Lena sent her heart to Time Out and took a breath to help answer the conversation as best she could. “You’re welcome. I’m sure your parents deserve it.”

_“They do,”_ Kara said, though her mood turned upside-down quickly with her next breath. _“Even if my dad was an asshole talking shit about you in the car … saying how he was glad I wasn’t working on you anymore. Can you believe that? Trying to tell me that you’re a bad example? Like, seriously, what is he even looking at? Because knowing you has made me so much better. You know? When we met, I was stuck in this routine that was never meant to be more than a phase, you know? But when I was around you I knew which way I wanted to go, and you made me want to dare … if that makes sense. I’m a little drunk.”_

“Yes,” Lena said, refusing to let herself put any thought into what she’d just heard. She couldn’t get sucked in. She had to shut this down and let go. “We’ve established that.”

“I bet you’re fun when you’re drunk,” Kara mused. “I bet we’d have a blast.”

Heaven help her, Lena could not dance this dance anymore.

She just couldn’t.

_“We should hang out when we’re both back to town,”_ Kara suggested. _“Get coffee. Catch up.”_

God, that voice. It made Lena want to say yes to anything, but she couldn’t. She’d made the cut at their last appointment. It was a perfect chopping point. She had to cut the blonde off or she would lose her mind.

“That won’t be happening, Kara.”

Kara audibly pouted. _“C’mon. You’re like the coolest person I know. I want to hang out with you.”_

“I don’t hang out,” Lena replied. “I don’t have friends, I have contracts.”

_“Right,” _she drawled, sounding oddly bitter._ “But what if you just tried friends for once? Like, once a month you get a half-day Friend Day? And I’ll be the friend.”_

“No, Kara. That won’t be happening.”

Silence. Then, _“Well, just so you know, I’m super bummed about that because I’m pretty sure I’m going to miss you.” _

“You’ll be fine,” Lena replied evenly, maybe talking more to herself than Kara.

_“No. You make everything make sense, you know? Like, I’m always babbling about whatever for a million years, and then you go and say the same thing in one sentence. You’re so fucking smart. Whenever I’m around you, I’m super aware I never went to college.”_

More than anything, Lena needed drunk Kara to shut up. At the same time, she didn’t want to make her feel bad. “College isn’t for everyone. You found your calling somewhere else.”

_“Hmm,”_ Kara said, sounding like she might be falling asleep. _“Well, being smart was never an option so…”_

Interesting. That was more self-loathing than she was used to hearing from the blonde. “Kara?”

_“Yeah?”_

“Are you a sad drunk?”

_“Nuh-uh,”_ Kara giggled. _“I usually dance.”_

“You do?”

_“Yeah. I’m usually at parties—”_

That was not a visual Lena needed.

_“—but I drink a lot more at home since…”_ The thought tapered off in a way that made Lena feel pretty certain that Kara was staring off into nothing at that moment.

It was probably adorable. Which meant she should stop picturing it.

“Kara?” she said, trying to keep her voice un-jarring. “Are you in a place where you can fall asleep?”

_“In bed,”_ the girl replied, sounding comfortable. _“At my parents’ house. Looking at the fake stars glowing on my ceiling in the dark.”_

“That’s good,” Lena said, trying to ignore how her heart rocked at the image. “I’m glad you’re in a safe place because it sounds like you might be ready to go to sleep.”

_“Yeah. Sorry, I drunk dialed you.”_

“It’s okay.”

_“I usually call my sister, but she’s on a flight.”_

“So you mentioned.”

_“I did?”_

“Yeah.”

_“Oh … well, I’m a little drunk.”_

They were going in full loops now. It was time to hang up.

_“But I wanted you to know you made my Christmas really great,”_ Kara threw out, like she’d forgotten she’d already said that, too. _“And then my dad was all blah-blah-blah about you being a bad influence, and I just wanted to call you and tell you that he’s wrong. My dad’s a good person, but he’s wrong about you. You’re awesome, Ms. Lena Luthor.”_

The words landed like a punch in the heart. For a moment, Lena couldn’t breathe. She could only press the heel of her hand to her chest as Kara finished.

_“I’m better for knowing you, and that’s like the best Christmas present ever. So I wanted to thank you for it. That’s all.”_

God, the girl had a way with words. She could say everything while promising nothing and Lena’s heart just couldn’t take much more of that.

“Thank you.” It was the only thing to say.

_“You’re welcome,”_ Kara hummed. _“I’m gonna miss your stubborn ass. And I hope you miss mine, too—because we both know it’s an awesome ass. So I hope you call me back tomorrow and confess that I’m totally sufferable and you want to grab a coffee and catch up.”_

The temptation would be there every day. Lena knew that without a doubt. But if Kara didn’t care enough to dare to explore the absolute gravity between them—gravity that got Lena breaking her own rules and Kara drunk dialing her on Christmas—Lena had to let her go.

Sometimes too close _was _too far away. And it was torture.

Better to be far away.

“Okay, Kara,” she said gently, praying the blonde couldn’t hear how tight her throat was. “I think it’s time to go to sleep now. Do you want to hang up? Or do you want me to hang up first?”

Silence.

Well, that answered that.

Lena waited several beats—tempted to try to get Kara’s attention again before pulling the phone away from her ear and ending the call.

Damn. That conversation was going to fuck with her for a while. She knew it even as she studied the skyline and did her best to forget it by planning for the future.


	38. Chapter 38

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So y'all are really bringing it with the kudos. I think I owe you FIVE chapters today!!! This was originally timed out to post by Christmas, but I think you're going to have it all by US Thanksgiving time.
> 
> Love it! Here's the first of several chapters that will post today. Thanks for the love and the feedback!

Man, the wind was cold.

Living on a coast meant no winter snow, but it definitely didn’t feel as sunny outside as it looked as Kara arrived at the mall for crunch time.

They opened in four days.

Four. Days.

It felt so unreal, except for the fact that there was so much work to do. Kara would probably-maybe finish the mural that day and was freaking out at how good it looked. Everyone was going to want to take a picture of themselves doing silks in front of it. Instagram would be full of pics that would be totally signature.

Once she had it done.

It was almost tempting to grab a hot drink as she headed to her new favorite coffee shop. But the overpriced cold-pressed juice they sold was an addiction at this point.

Kara pushed through the main door of the shop, bell chiming to announce her entrance. A female employee looked her way. Sandra. The woman looked like Shay from _The L-Word_, only shorter and with full-sleeve tattoos going up each arm.

Alex and Maggie both had a crush on her. It had gotten to the point where they now had an approved threesome list with exactly one name on it of someone they had actually met in person.

And looking at her right then, Kara totally understood why. “Hey, Sandra.”

“Hey, Kara,” the girl replied, not missing a beat on the drink she was making.

Kara was pretty sure she’d met every employee at this point. Sandra worked fulltime, so she was usually around when Kara popped in. The guy currently at the till ringing someone up was Trace. Kara had only seen him twice before, but he was way nice.

The shop had a total hipster vibe, pretty much everyone in the shop her age with people sticking around with laptops to use the free wifi. _Zombie _by The Cranberries played as she moved into line and did a habitual fitness assessment of the guy in front of her.

He was probably a runner. Slender and fit, but he didn’t have the gym look.

Moving her focus to her phone, she checked the time before opening Instagram. Jimmy had posted a new teaser photo of the studio of him doing an iron cross between the silks—the mural three-quarters done in the background.

He looked cut as hell, and the filter he’d applied wasn’t hurting the situation. It already had 143 likes, which was awesome advertising.

Kara kept scrolling through her Instagram feed, liking photos from other fitness professionals and studying how they were framed until the guy in front of her finished and moved to the side. She stepped toward the register, thinking he was done ordering, except for the fact that he was looking at her and not moving.

Kara was momentarily confused until he said, “Please, put whatever she’s getting on my order, too.”

Behind the counter, Trace looked at her expectantly, a teasing smile on his lips as he waited for her order.

Kara felt herself flush at the attention. “Oh, you don’t need to do that.”

“I want to,” the guy said with a flirty smile. “It gives me an excuse to talk to you.”

She pursed her lips, making a show of looking him up and down. He was cute. Way cute.

“What if I don’t talk?” she teased

He kept his flirt on. “Well, then, I guess I can say I tried.”

Kara laughed, losing her poker face immediately. “Whatever. I’ll talk to you. You don’t even have to buy my drink.”

“But I want to,” he pressed.

Kara let out a resigned sigh and looked over at Trace. “Fine. I’ll do a sixteen-ounce Root Juice.”

Trace punched it in and gave the guy his total. “That will be $15.72.”

For two drinks? Ouch. Maybe she and Jimmy really did need to revisit their pricing structure. People who came to this mall didn’t seem to blink at the ridiculous. Kara still did, and she didn’t want to price people out of classes who maybe didn’t have as much money to spend.

Jimmy kept pointing out that wasn’t their target market, which was true. But Kara just kept remembering all the things she hadn’t been able to do growing up because of the price tags attached.

Fun fitness shouldn’t be an elite thing.

But maybe—just maybe—she needed to let that ideal go for a minute. They were the first studio of their kind in the city. Their success would mean more studios and someone else could open up in another part of town for lower cost.

First, they had to make it a thing.

“Whoa,” the flirty guy said, waving his hand to get her attention. “Did I lose you already?”

Kara blinked back to reality, smiling big in reflex. “Sorry. I was just thinking about my business.”

His eyebrows came up in surprise. “You own a business?”

“Well, I’m a partner in one,” she said, pointing in the direction of the studio. “We’re setting up the space now.”

“Oh, you’re that new yoga place?” he asked.

He knew without her telling him? Cool. “Yeah. You’ve seen it?”

“Hard not to,” he said, moving them away from the line to the pickup area as Trace got started on his coffee order. “I work at the bank, so I pass through here all the time. The place was all white before and now it’s all color when you walk by.”

“Yeah,” Kara said, remembering how everything had come together in her mind after talking to Lena about colors. That night she had dreamed how she wanted the studio to look, and the reality was turning out even better.

She loved it.

Absolutely loved it.

“What are those sling-looking things hanging from the ceiling?” he asked.

“They’re for trapeze yoga,” she said with excitement. “It’s really great. If you walk me back to the studio, I’ll let you try one out.”

He looked playfully skeptical. “I dunno. Is that going make you think I’m interested in your business and not in you?”

Kara blushed, flattered. “I, uh, can keep your interest in mind.”

“Yeah?” he said, and Kara decided he had nice lips. Not full, but not thin either. Good guy-lips that framed a charming smile. “Is it too forward for me to ask what you’re doing this Friday?”

Kara wanted to say “massage” but it wasn’t true. Not anymore. And she had promised her dad that she would date on weekends. Her parents had probably prayed that something exactly like this might happen.

“I … guess I’m spending it with you,” she replied with a smile.

“Yeah?” he said.

She nodded. “Unless you screw up royally in the next few minutes and reveal you’re some freak.”

He shook his head. “I save that for the third date.”

Her enthusiasm chilled just a little bit, not knowing if he was serious, but she kept her smile. “Hmm. I’ll have to keep my eyes open for that. In the meantime, let’s see how one date goes.”

The guy smiled. “I think it’s going well so far.”

Kara popped a skeptical brow, feeling a bit like Lena as she did. “Yeah? You think this is a date? I don’t even know your name yet.”

He held his hand out. “The name’s Mike.”

She regarded his hand with a bit of amusement before shaking it. “Kara.”

He had a firm grip, yet gentle. “Hi, Kara. It’s nice to meet you.”

“You, too, Mike,” she replied. “Do you always shake your date’s hands?”

“Only when I’m nervous about screwing up by moving too fast.”

“I see,” she said, releasing his hand and grinning.

“Although, I’ll warn you now that I’m totally going to go for a goodbye hug after walking you back to your studio.”

“Are you now?” she flirted back.

“Definitely.”

Trace slid a coffee cup and a juice container onto the counter. “Triple-shot latte and a root juice.”

Kara flashed him a smile. “Thanks, Trace.”

When Trace nodded and walked off, Mike picked up both drinks and handed Kara the beet-red one. “Shall we?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yeah, Mon-el is here...


	39. Chapter 39

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 50 kudos = Bonus 😘
> 
> Which is GREAT because I can't leave you with Mon-el and Kara together, right?
> 
> Moving on!

On Day 3 of opening week, one of the hottest women Kara had seen in her life came to her aerial yoga class. Her latté skin tone and a short-bob hair caught more than one stare as she tucked her gym bag in a cubby hole.

But the woman only seemed to notice one person: Jimmy.

And Jimmy had noticed her back.

To his credit, he tried to be professional about it—pretending to see only his client on his side of the gym as they moved through the personal training session. But Kara knew her business partner, and he usually didn’t flex that hard or use full weight when he demonstrated techniques to a client.

Jimmy was definitely showing off, the new girl was definitely watching, and Kara already shipped it. She wasn’t even standing between them and could already feel the chemistry like a fire in the room.

Kara didn’t care what her mom told her when she was twelve, _this _was how babies were made.

It started with totally not being able to take eyes off of each other. And new girl and Jimmy were guilty as charged.

Kara ended up watching the girl off-and-on throughout the full hour of her class, looking for signs of crazy and coming up blissfully empty-handed.

The girl was crazy flexible, though. She’d almost certainly been a dancer at one point, if she wasn’t still. There were two or three—okay, fine, definitely three—moves new girl did even better than Kara.

But Kara didn’t let herself get insecure about that as she watched the two of them show off for each other.

It was weird, but the woman kind of reminded Kara of Lena. It wasn’t her looks—they were quite different on that front—but there was something in the way Miss Sexy Bob carried herself that reminded Kara of the billionaire. A steadiness … a coolness in her eyes … a measured way to her movements. She had that discipline to her of a ballerina that was definitely too cool to talk to you, until you got up the nerve to talk to her and realized you were the snob for thinking she was the snob.

New girl had that kind of vibe, and the only time she looked half-way fallible was when she and Jimmy caught eyes. Only then did her balance falter or did she miss a cue into the next move.

She was _so_ into him.

Yet, when the class was over, neither Jimmy nor the latté goddess made a move. The woman cleared out before Kara could break away from answering questions for other students, and Jimmy pretended not to watch her go as she sent him a parting glance while walking out the door.

He just kept talking to his client like he was the most important person in the room.

Idiot.

Yet Kara couldn’t say anything for another hour—after the main door was closed and locked for cleaning.

“Yo, Olsen!” she called out, walking toward him as he re-racked all the weights as part of clean up.

“Yo, Danvers!” he called back, not looking away from his work.

“So,” she said conversationally. “What did you think of that Total Ten who spent my entire class checking you out? I saw you flexing for her.”

“I wasn’t flexing.”

She stopped next to him, smirking that he’d skipped the part where he pretended not to know who the Total Ten was.

He totally did.

“You were totally flexing,” she teased. “And she was totally showing off her flexibility. It was like watching a weird National Geographic special on mating rituals.”

He rolled his eyes. “That was your imagination.”

Kara laughed. “Was the look she sent you when she walked out the door my imagination, too?”

That earned her a reluctant glance. “What look?”

Busted. “She did this whole sexy glance thing while pushing her boobs and butt out like only a dancer can. You should have seen it, but I’m guessing you were too busy telling your client how snap peas make great snacks.”

“Wow,” he drawled. “You really were watching.”

“How could I not? She’s, like, everything you’ve ever been attracted to in other women, all wrapped up in an exotic princess who can’t stop staring at you.”

He paused in his work, cautious hope appearing in his expression. “You know who she is, right?”

Kara shook her head. “No. Should I?”

“That’s Naomi,” he said, the name barely ringing a bell until he added. “Lena Luthor’s executive assistant.”

Kara grew still. “Are you serious? That’s what Naomi looks like?”

How many times had she heard the name and thought nothing of it?

Holy shit. That’s who Lena worked with every day?

All of a sudden, Kara liked the woman a little less.

“Yeah,” Jimmy said. “I thought you knew her.”

“I’ve only talked to her on the phone,” Kara admitted. “How do you know her?”

“She’s been the one to assist me when I go in to do stuff for our L-Corp account. We’ve met before, but just for business.”

Oh. That made sense, but that took a distant second to the fact that her instincts seemed to be right. “You know what that means, don’t you?”

Jimmy looked confused. “No. What?”

“She’s not crazy,” Kara announced. “Lena Luthor only deals with the best. So if that’s her _personal_ assistant then Naomi has her shit together.”

“Yeah,” Jimmy agreed. “She’s also terrifying.”

Kara scowled at him. “If you’re going to let a capable woman scare you off, then all those Tindr psychos might have been right about you. You don’t run from a woman that badass, Jimmy. You seduce the hell out of her.”

His eyebrows popped up in surprise. “Wow. You really have feelings about this, don’t you?”

“Don’t pretend I’m the only one. You totally want her.”

“Of course, I do,” he sighed. “But she probably makes two- or three-times as much money as I do.”

“Naomi and Jimmy,” she mused aloud, ignoring his insecurity. “Together, you’re Jaomi. I totally ship it.”

He pulled a face. “What?”

“It’s a thing,” she said, waving it off like an afterthought. “When couples are meant to be, their names go together. Naomi and Jimmy make Jaomi.”

He rolled his eyes. “You’re crazy.”

“And you have a crush on someone who _isn’t_ crazy. That has to be a first.”

“Like it matters,” he said, looking around to see if he missed any weights. He hadn’t. “There’s no way someone like Naomi is single—especially if she’s not crazy.”

“I didn’t see a ring. So if she’s not single now, she will be soon,” Kara predicted, earning a bashful look from her friend. Kara found it adorable.

“Stop it,” he grumbled. “You’re getting my hopes up.”

“Trust me,” Kara said, walking over to the register to close it out. “The next time you see Naomi, she’s going to give you an opening. And I say go for it because I need to know how if that weird mating ritual I just watched leads to perfect babies.” She held a finger up as she went. “One rule, though. If things heat up while you’re here, try to make it to your office before the finale. Our south wall is 100% windows and I don't want to be evicted.”

“Wow,” Jimmy drawled, and she could hear the embarrassment in his voice. “I can’t believe you just said that.”

“Sure, you can,” she teased, before opening the till and getting to the business of closing out and getting home. “And if you don’t want to hear me say worse, just keep your business your business and I won’t say anything in front of Naomi.”

“Roger that.”


	40. Chapter 40

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 50 kudos = Bonus 😘
> 
> Warning: het sexuality discussed.
> 
> There are several things coming up that other writers might put trigger warnings on. I'm just going to drop a line here that I'm going to assume you're good with riding along with Kara's journey through to the end if you've made it this far. Some stuff might be coming up that won't be your fave, but all roads lead to Supercorp endgame in my world ... even if Kara takes the long route and paddles slowly for a while 😉

_“I’ve fallen and I can’t giddy__-up,” _the cartoon horse said on the TV, earning a laugh from Mike behind her.

Kara was the little spoon as the cuddled together on the couch, and her back bounced lightly against his chest as he chuckled. She’d kind of forgotten how cuddling felt when it wasn’t with your sister.

It felt nice.

Mike was nice.

Like, _really_ nice.

Everything about him was chill. No drama.

Kara had only known him ten days, but she liked him. It was cool to end the day cuddling on the couch with someone who was down to watch a cartoon.

“I can’t believe you haven’t seen this,” she said, nestling in closer.

“Ferdinand?” he said, his lips close to her ear. “Nah. I heard the reviews saying to skip it unless you had a kid, so I skipped it.”

“It’s far from being the best,” Kara conceded, eyes still on the screen as the bulls celebrated their dancing victory. “It kind of feels like a money grab. But it’s still fun.”

Best of all, there were no sex scenes.

This was their third date, which was when Mike had teased her he was going to show his freak flag. So far, however, Mike’s freak flag seemed to be shades of vanilla. Which was good. Totally good.

Kara liked vanilla.

She was in the middle of thinking that when Mike’s hand moved up to cup her breast. “Is this okay?”

Kara froze for a moment, taken off guard by the move, before exhaling. “Yeah. For sure.”

“Cool,” he said, holding her a little closer.

Taking a moment to take stock of the feel of their positions, Kara found that even though she was tensing up, everything was still rather innocent. Yes, she had a hand on her boob but there wasn’t really anything erotic about it. It felt casual. Easy. Just like everything about Mike did.

It had just been a while since a guy’s hand had been there and she was a little rusty.

Going for second base on the third date was totally normal timing. Some girls would probably even be sleeping with him right then, and he was starting to make moves like he might ask. His hand was in a place that could get his imagination revving and his crotch was in a place where she’d feel it if he wanted more.

In the back of her mind, Kara felt herself waiting for it … for heat to build. She kept her eyes on the screen, pretending to watch as her mind started running scenarios and deciding how she wanted to handle it if Mike made his big move while cuddling on a couch with a cartoon playing.

This was the part of the night where Kara got to listen to all of her father’s sermons from church play over each other in her mind while also telling herself that it was her body, her choice.

The resulting headspace never put her in the mood for sex, always feeling more muddied than aroused when she first started sleeping with a new guy. Things got fun after a while, but breaking the seal on a new sexual partner was always weird for her. She never knew when it was too soon, too late, or when the timing was just right.

She kind of had to follow the guy’s cue on that.

And Mike’s cue came in the form of heat and firmness building against her right ass cheek. Time was running out on figuring out how far she was going to with him go tonight.

Alex wasn’t home, so all-the-way was an option. But it was just the third date, and it wasn’t like their chemistry was off the charts. They were still in that spot where if she said no he would totally be expecting it, even if he wanted a different answer.

Guys always did, which was why the decision almost always came down to the girl. That inevitability had also been part of her dad’s sermons growing up. According to him, women needed to accept that they held the stop sign in sexual situations because men would almost never call the stops once they got started.

Kara still remembered those days at church the best. Not because they were good, but because it had been mortifying to watch her father talk about arousal for an hour in a room full of people muttering amens.

If Kara had been a dude trying not to get hard, those days at church would be the nightmare thought she’d loop in her mind to stay soft. She’d decided that back when she was a teen. Anytime she didn’t want to picture dirty thoughts, she pictured her dad at the pulpit.

It was the ultimate full-stop for her: daddy issues.

Man, she was such a cliché—even more for the fact that she’d technically had a great dad. She’d never lacked for anything she needed growing up and gotten most of what she wanted, too. So what if he’d taught sermons that made premarital sex awkward for her.

Come to think of it, that had probably been the intent behind the sermons all along … to cockblock her anytime, anywhere.

Gah! This was why it was so hard to break in new guys. So many mental dad-hurdles! How could it not be awkward to be penetrated by a guy when she couldn’t get her dad out of her head.

Gross.

So gross.

So seriously gross.

And, dammit, based on the evidence pressed into her ass, Kara was pretty sure Mike was packing more length than girth below the belt—not that she was judging, because she totally wasn’t. But she knew what worked well for her and girth was her jam, not having her cervix rammed.

She was pretty sure her vagina was smaller than most women’s. That wasn’t Mike’s fault. It wasn’t really hers either, but it was something to be accounted for when a guy was super long. It seemed like such an unfair reason to break up, but a bad fit always made sex more frustrating than it had to be, and Kara liked fun sex.

Kara was still juggling her realization that they might not be a good fit when Mike’s hand started moving down from her breast, it’s target obvious.

Tense, and not remotely in the mood to play along yet, Kara covered his hand with hers to stop its progress.

“Not yet, okay?” she said softly, still watching the screen.

“Okay, yeah,” he replied. “That’s cool.”

Then they watched the rest of the movie … even though Kara was pretty sure neither of them were really watching anymore.

They both seemed to have other thoughts on their mind. And Kara kept playing the role of little spoon while telling herself that was fine.


	41. Chapter 41

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> +50 Kudos = Bonus 😘
> 
> In which we find Lena in one of her more unusual business meetings that would 1,000% offend Kara's father.

It had been twenty-one days since Lena had stepped foot in L-Corp. Twenty-one days since she’d said goodbye to all that fuckery and moved on to focus on the companies she’d built herself.

It felt good.

Not only that, now that she didn’t see Kara anymore, Lena felt like less of a freak playing recordings of her voice as she slept. Yes, it was a little weird, but she was averaging six hours a night these days.

It was heaven.

Lena hadn’t been home since New Year’s Eve, and she didn’t plan on returning until March. There was just too much to do, and eight companies in eight weeks was only the start of it all.

Week one had been focused on designs for her motor-sports company—mostly water sports. Her soaps and detergent company had dominated week two, and week three had been her distilleries.

Today, the beginning of week four was all about her commercial sex toys—not her high-end offerings, but dildos, vibrators, and other mainstream offerings.

She sat around the conference room table with the eight members of her Research and Development team—three women and five men—each of them prepared to give a thirty-minute pitch to explain their recommendations for future offerings.

And it was Teresa’s turn.

The woman’s annual salary was peanuts next to her royalty checks each year. Teresa was a bit of a secret weapon—always knowing what would sell before anyone else was making it. Her ideas were usually outside of Lena’s comfort zone, but Lena had never regretted putting any of them into production.

So this should be fun.

Lena readied her pen to take notes as Teresa hooked the projector cable up to her laptop, revealing a PowerPoint with a title slide reading: _MONSTERS, ALIENS & INCUBI. _Graphic images she had pulled from the internet surrounded the title with a collage of what Teresa planned on pitching.

Either the world was getting kinkier or Lena was getting old.

Maybe both?

Standing from her seat, Teresa moved to the front of the conference room table to address everyone. 

“All of the products I’m going to pitch today focus on four categories,” she said as the title slide disappeared and new words appeared on the wall behind her. “Exaggerated shapes, swelling features, enhanced textures, and caged restraints.”

Lena made a column for each in her notebook.

“When it comes to category one: exaggerated shapes,” Teresa said, moving to the next slide. “I’m looking at the extreme uptick in erotic cosplay we’re seeing in the market, combined with the trends in commissioned art on sites like Patreon and Fiverr. Both areas reveal a huge demand for monster imagery and exaggerated proportions.”

Illustrations of beasts, insects, and aliens started filling the screen on a timer.

Lena looked at each image in turn and decided, yes, she was getting old.

Teresa kept going. “Oversized dildos have always been a thing, but the desired shapes and textures are evolving to embrace actual fucking monsters. And I think we could R&D a few options quite easily to see how these concepts test outside of the imagination.”

Teresa hit another button, mockups of potential models appearing on the screen. “Our bulbed dildos experienced a 23% sales increase last year, and I think that is part of the growing ‘knotting’ kink. I project that we could really get a corner on that market if we develop a bulb that inflates and deflates as a swelling feature. Vampires have been all the rage for a couple of decades now, but we’re starting to see the dawn of the werewolf in a way we haven’t seen before. It’s everywhere.”

“You’re saying you think people are ready for a product line that lets them literally fuck and knot like dogs?” Lena asked.

Teresa smiled, looking more than a little interested herself. “I do.”

She hit the button again, more images and screenshots of text fragments that looked like they were from stories appeared in timed intervals as Teresa continued.

“Anywhere people are sharing fantasies with strangers online, there is this emergent phenomenon of soul mates knotting together via orgasm, and remaining stuck together post-orgasm for any number of minutes. Sort of a forced-bonding.”

She hit the button again, bringing up more text snippets like headlines that were much more graphic than Teresa’s summary of them.

“The fantasies have a trend of females accommodating massive girth that requires at least one manual orgasm as part of foreplay to relax and lubricate the vagina enough for entry. And once the massive cock gets in, the consensus seems to be that women want a ‘power top’ experience. Fantasies also include length that really plows the cervix, which we all know doesn’t end well in a real-world environment. But I have a few concepts I’ll be showing later, when I touch on swelling features, that I think can keep the fantasy without sending women to emergency rooms with spasming uteruses.”

That was one thing Lena was happy she would never experience in her life. She was open to a lot of things, but being plowed by any type of phallus wasn’t one of them.

Lena tapped the end of her pen against her notebook, letting Teresa’s words sink in as she took in all the images projected onto the screen. “So are you pitching a canine-specific focus for R&D, or are there other animals you think belong in this category? It’s pretty much a zoo in the images you’ve provided, and the phalluses seem to cover all categories.”

“It’s true,” Teresa agreed. “You’ll see even more of that when we discuss monsters. Impaling imagery is on the rise. But people don’t want that pointy vampire bite on their neck anymore. They’re ready for something a lot bigger somewhere else.”

That got a few laughs from the table.

“The good news is that there’s no need to reinvent the wheel to keep up with any of the current trends,” Teresa added. “Only exaggerate existing trends.”

Lena had seen what Teresa was talking about in the clubs. A lot of it homemade attachments—most lacking in some aspect of quality. They either looked cool without performing well, or performed decently while looking homemade. It took a lot of money to get form and function into a wearable fantasy item. And the more Lena tried to picture such an item, the more a single image came to mind.

“So are we talking taurophilia, as well?” she asked Teresa, and the smile Lena got in response told her all she needed to know.

By the end of the pitch, Lena had approved funding for six new designs she had no doubt would make both her and Teresa very rich women.

Especially when the next presenter provided samples of new skin-grade silicons currently being issued patents.

It was going to be a good year in the sex business. Lena could feel it.


	42. Chapter 42

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> +50 = Bonus 😘
> 
> Also, the slow burn is about to start turning ... for those of you who have been patient. (Which, let's face it, is ALL of you😂 )

“What I want to know is where you learned how to paint?” Jimmy said over his beer, his arm draped over Naomi’s shoulders next to him.

Kara didn’t like to brag—okay, she totally did—but she’d called it. The next time Naomi had come to class, Jimmy had said hi, Naomi had said hi, and neither of them knew exactly what they’d said next, but they’d been on a date the next Friday.

And every night since.

Even better? Naomi was so cool—the kind of cool Kara couldn’t think about too hard about or she’d start short-circuiting with unworthy thoughts of how she definitely wasn’t cool enough to be hanging out with her.

Because she totally wasn’t cool enough.

But whatever. It was happening, and Jimmy was so happy Kara almost didn’t recognize him. Plus, the group dates were a blast—Alex and Maggie, Kara and Mike, and now Jimmy and Naomi.

It was like fate wanted Kara to have a super social new year with people who made hanging out in bars fun again.

At the moment, Kara was proving she could drink her sister under the table, while everyone else showed a little more restraint.

Naomi was drinking in moderation, sipping on her second pint. Jimmy was on his third, as was Maggie. Mike was still nursing his first.

Not that Kara was counting or anything.

Okay, she was totally counting. Because she was responsible. And responsible people knew exactly how much everyone had been drinking.

Because they were responsible.

Like her.

“Me, too!!” Alex yelled, looking Kara for some reason.

Kara had no idea why, but she was a little drunk. So she just listened to her sister talk and waited for something to start to make sense.

“One minute you’re splashing paint onto a canvas like a cat,” Alex continued. “And the next you’re painting building-size murals on a ladder. What the hell?”

Nope. Kara was still lost.

“You said our bungee painting class was the first time you ever painted,” Maggie added and suddenly things started to click.

“It was,” Kara said. “But it just seemed like something I should be able to do, so I did it.”

“Based on a bungee painting class?” Maggie asked.

All Kara could do was shrug. They made it all seem like calculus when it really wasn’t.

It was paint.

“Well, it’s fucking awesome,” Jimmy said with an approving nod.

Naomi nodded. “It really is.”

“Thank you,” Kara beamed.

Mike’s hand glided its way along her back and came to rest on Kara’s shoulder, giving it a little squeeze.

She’d almost forgotten he was there.

“So far, I haven’t found anything she isn’t good at,” he added, and when Kara saw Naomi’s brow do a Lena-like pop at the comment, she decided to roll with it.

“That’s right!” Kara proclaimed proudly. “If it takes a body to do it, I’m good at it! If you need a brain” —her mind jumped back to Lena— “go find someone else. Cuz I got nothin’.”

“Well, that’s a bit of an overstatement,” Mike said, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

Kara took the kiss, but not the compliment. “Not really.”

“It’s true,” Alex agreed. “Kara was always too cool for school, and it’s left its mark.”

“Hey!” Kara pouted. “I get to say it. You don’t.”

“No?” Alex countered, playful but combative. “Then don’t call me in to save the day next time you need someone to strategize for you.”

“Pshaw!” Kara laughed. “Jimmy’s dating Naomi now. If you haven’t noticed, she’s smarter than all of us combined. She’ll save the day if you bail.”

“Hey, what about me?” Mike objected.

Kara patted his leg under the table. “Sorry, buddy. Naomi might look like America’s Next Top Model, but she’s fucking McGyver.”

“I thought she was fucking me,” Jimmy argued.

Kara grinned in victory. “I knew it! You two sealed the deal!”

Naomi blushed, forever demure in her mannerisms. The girl was hot as fuck but never walked around like she was flaunting it.

It only made her hotter in Kara’s mind.

“Just you wait,” Kara said, wagging her finger at them. “You two are going to make the cutest fucking babies this world has ever seen.”

They both blanched at that, neither daring to look at each other for a moment. Kara had totally channeled her parents and made it weird … but it was true.

They were totally going to make babies together. Kara could feel it.

“You’re going to be such an awesome mom, Naomi,” Kara blurted, hearing the slur of her words and not caring.

Because she would. Naomi would be a kick-ass mom, and Jimmy would the white knight to his queen.

They _so_ needed to get married. Kara felt more passionate about that at the moment than she did about Alex and Maggie.

She turned to look at her sister and her girlfriend, studying them closely. “What about you two? Either of you want babies?”

“Okay,” Jimmy said, reaching across the table and sliding Kara’s drink away from her. “I think it’s time to cut you off for a while.”

“Why?” she said, fighting for the glass. “Because I can’t wait to be a godmother?”

Alex rolled her eyes. “If you want a kid so bad, why not have one of your own?”

Kara pulled a face. “Like, a full-time kid?” She shook her head vigorously. “No, thanks. I’m, like, the cool-aunt person. I show up, I’m super fun, I play around for a while and get everyone tired, then I go home. That’s the life for me. I wanna be the fairy godmother.”

Alex seemed to be confused. “Wait. You don’t want kids?”

Suddenly, everyone was looking at her like she was an alien. Even Mike.

What was she saying? And how was it all slipping out?

“I mean … not right now,” she managed to say out of habit as she gave Jimmy a look of solidarity. “I’m just not there right now. We have to build the business.”

“Right,” Jimmy said, while Mike seemed to sigh in relief next to her.

The three other women at the table seemed much more skeptical, however, but Maggie was the only one to speak up.

“It’s okay if you don’t want children, Kara,” she said gently. “There are a lot of people on this planet. We don’t all have to make more at this point.”

Kara nodded. “For sure. Only people like Naomi and Jimmy.” She held up her drink in a toast. “Make humans hot again!”

Maggie turned to Mac. “It’s definitely time to cut her off.”

“I’ll grab her a coffee and some water,” Mike said, getting up from the table.

“My hero,” Kara cooed, watching him go. When he was out of earshot she added, “My vanilla knight with steaming coffee.”

When she looked back at everyone at the table, Alex and Maggie were making out for some reason while Naomi and Jimmy seemed to be looking at her with concern.

“Are you okay, Kar?” Naomi asked.

“Totally,” she said with a little wave. “Sorry I got drunk on you. I don’t usually drink this much on group dates.”

“Or ever,” Jimmy mumbled.

“Or ever,” she agreed, although it was a lie.

Jimmy hadn’t ever seen her drink like this, but Alex had several times in the past few months. It was kind of a thing at this point, but Alex was making out at the moment so she wouldn’t be calling Kara out.

“I’m normally a one-beer girl,” Kara said, reaching across the table and squeezing Naomi’s hand. “Two beers, tops. Sorry to expose you to messy me.”

“Is everything okay?” Naomi asked like a decent person. “Are you decompressing or avoiding?"

Here Kara just wanted her to let everything slide and Naomi was acting like a friend she really, really needed. But wasn’t it just her sorry luck that Naomi was one of the few people on the planet she couldn’t let herself talk to.

She had to remember that—even while drunk: Don’t talk to Naomi about Lena. Don’t talk to anyone about her, really, but definitely not Naomi. Lena was her boss.

“It’s fine,” Kara said with a wave. “It’s just been a while since I’ve been out. I’m overpencomsating…” Wait. That didn’t sound right. “Overcockumsating?” Nope. That sounded wrong, too. “Over-complicating?” Well, yes. Definitely that, but it wasn’t the word she was looking for.

“Overcompensating?” Jimmy guessed and Kara stabbed her finger at him.

“That’s the one!”

“Overcompensating for what?” Maggie asked, suddenly not making out anymore.

Why was everyone moving so quickly? First, they were talking. Then they were kissing. Then they were asking her super-personal questions while Mike brought her coffee.

Well, guess what? Kara didn’t want coffee! She never asked for coffee, just like she didn’t ask for a goddamn hero.

“I dunno,” she said with a shrug. “Just celebrating the fact I don’t have to teach yoga tomorrow morning, I guess. It’s been a long time since I didn’t have to get up early on a Saturday.”

Yep. Kara wasn’t sure where she heard someone else say it first, but that definitely sounded like a valid excuse to be drinking.

Go, her!

Everyone might think she was drunk to strategize, but she still had some moves in her.

Jimmy raised his glass toward her in a toast. “Here’s to part-time staff and half-days off.”

“Fuck, yeah,” Kara replied, finding her glass again and tapping it to his before Naomi and everyone else chimed in. “Some of us are not meant to get up before the sun.”

“It’s called being lazy,” Alex scoffed just before their glasses touched and Kara pulled hers away on principle.

“Hey! I am super-not lazy. I’m just super happy I get to be lazy tomorrow morning. There’s a difference!”

“To the difference,” Maggie toasted before Alex could one-up her.

While they were clinking glasses, Mike came back with a coffee in one hand and a water glass in the other.

Awesome.

“Hold that thought, sexy pants,” she said, pushing them away. “We’re drinking again!”

And they did just that.

By the time they called it a night, Kara was a blackout walking on two feet. She didn’t know how she got home, only that she woke up next to a Gatorade, some charcoal pills, and four Ibuprofen.

And she was alone, still wearing last night’s clothes with the other side of the bed untouched.

Perfect.

She didn’t need to be at work until two. It was just after eight.

Covering her face with her pillow, Kara rolled over and went back to sleep.


	43. Chapter 43

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 50 Kudos = Bonus 😘
> 
> Let the fun begin!

By the time March came around, Kara’s life had found its new rhythm.

The biggest surprise? She wasn’t stressed out of her mind. Business was good—good enough that they now had four other part-time employees training and teaching. Kara didn’t teach any of the regular yoga classes anymore, only the classes that took people off the ground.

She loved it.

On top of that, she now only did a maximum of four massages a day. She had to cut back a bit, given how long her days were now. She had breaks throughout the day, but she spent an average of twelve hours at the studio each weekday and four hours on the weekends.

Kara couldn’t wear herself out while they were just getting started. She had to pace herself.

Part of that pacing was her juice addiction. Kara was pretty sure she paid the cafe’s monthly rent at this point, but what could she do? She was an addict. She could either bitch about handing over her money or smile as she did the inevitable.

She chose the latter, escaping out the front door of her studio after her last massage and grabbing the drink that would keep her strong through her trapeze and silks classes, without weighing her down.

Kara was pushing through the cafe’s entrance when she saw her.

Lena Luthor. In the cafe—with her back to the window, as if she didn’t want to look outside.

Across from her sat one of Kara’s landlords: Eleanor Stoddart. Hair blown out, blouse one button too-open, and hands toying with her coffee cup in ways that didn’t make her seem like a married woman.

Every instinct in Kara told her to turn around and run, but she was foiled when Sandra waved at her from behind the counter and said, “Your usual?”

Yes. Kara wanted her usual.

She had two more classes ahead of her and she needed even blood sugar. She wasn’t going to let seeing Lena Luthor’s knee pressing into another woman’s thigh under a table get in her way of staying strong for her evening classes.

How stupid would that be?

This wasn’t elementary school, and Lena wasn’t some cool kid claiming the swings and leaving Kara to play with the sand until recess was over. They could both be in the cafe at the same time.

It was fine. Totally fine.

“Yep!” Kara said, rushing up to the counter as if she hadn’t seen Lena at all. “How’s your day going?”

“Good,” Sandra said, walking over to the fridge and pulled a glass pitcher out. “Thought you might be coming in so I made you some fresh. We were running low.”

“Seriously? That’s so nice,” Kara said, and meant it. “Thank you.”

“Hey, half of your customers are our regulars now, thanks to your word of mouth,” Sandra said, grabbing a cup. “Gotta keep my brand ambassadors happy.”

Kara smiled, pulling out her debit card. “Well, this ambassador is totally happy and can’t make it a day without your Root Juice anymore. It’s better than coffee at keeping me going.”

Sandra slid the drink across the counter to her and moved to the register.

“I’m supposed to give you this,” she said, picking up a business card and handing it over. “My boss wants to talk to you about maybe trading your daily dose for product placement on your Instagram feed.”

Kara took the card, momentarily forgetting about how her butt might look to anyone who might be seeing her from behind. “For real?”

Sandra smiled one of those knowing smiles that got all the girls falling at her feet. “For real. The correlation between you moving in and our Root Juice sales going up over 300% is pretty obvious. My boss wants to talk with you.”

“Sweet.” She could post pictures and get her drinks for free? That would be amazing.

“Give him a call,” Sandra said.

“Totally will,” Kara said, handing over her debit card.

Sandra pushed it back with a smile. “This one is on the house. Thanks for the business.”

“You mean my addiction?” Kara teased back, earning a bigger smile.

“That, too,” Sandra laughed as the bell over the door rang as a new customer entered.

Kara glanced back in reflex to see who it was, but her eyes stopped half-way there when they caught a flash of jade looking her way.

New customer forgotten, Kara stared back.

Damn, Lena looked good. Like, really good.

Like … better-than-Kara-had-ever-seen-her good.

“What can I get you?” Sandra said on the other side of the counter, clearly not talking to Kara anymore, which was Kara’s cue to move away from the register.

Her heart raced, willing her to run away but it was too late now. She and Lena had definitely seen each other and it would be rude to walk out without saying hi … or waving … or something.

Kara started with a wave, her eyes looking between Lena and the landlady for signs they did not want to be interrupted … signs that this was a date. There was that touch of legs under the table … which may or may not actually be happening now that Kara saw things from a side angle. There might be an inch-or-two gap between them.

Not that it mattered.

Grown adults could touch legs under tables if they wanted to. It was totally fine.

Totally.

Lena waved back—just a slight raise of her hand from the table accompanied by a slight wiggling of fingers.

The woman never was one to draw attention to herself—not that it worked. Lena was stunning as a default. Everyone noticed her.

Eleanor was certainly noticing.

Not that it was any of Kara’s business.

Kara told her face to smile and her feet to walk out the door, but only her face complied. Her feet stayed locked in place until Lena motioned for her to come closer. Then they obeyed her like a soldier.

The traitors.

“Hey,” Kara said as she drew closer, careful to make even eye contact with both Lena and Eleanor.

“Well, if it isn’t my new favorite tenant,” Eleanor said, looking like she might actually mean it. She gestured over to Lena. “I’m trying to talk your friend here into following your example.”

Friend? Lena had distinctly shot down that term when it came to them.

No. They were not friends. But Eleanor didn’t need to know that.

“You totally should,” Kara said to Lena with a bright, impersonal smile. “Everyone’s cool and the security is really great. My insurance actually went down coming here, thanks to all the precautions the Stoddarts have in place. Plus,” Kara held up her drink. “Best juice in the city.”

“So I heard,” Lena said, holding up a cup identical to Kara’s. Root Juice. “You were right. It really is excellent.”

Kara couldn’t help it when her smile turned a little smug. “Told you.”

Lena nodded. “Yes, you did.”

So Lena did remember their conversations. Cool. That was something, at least.

Kara cleared her throat. “What kind of shop would you open here?”

“That’s what we’re actually discussing,” Eleanor said, turning her attention back to Lena. “Ms. Luthor is a woman of many wheelhouses. There are several options to choose from.”

“Yes,” Lena replied in her smooth, business tone. “The question is if any of them would benefit from establishing a brick-and-mortar presence.”

“Which would definitely be the case if you opened up here,” Eleanor put in.

Okay, so this was a business meeting. Definitely business.

Cool.

Lena locked eyes with Kara again. “What do you think?”

What did she think?

A lot of things—the first of which was that whatever Lena was doing differently since they’d parted ways was really working. Her skin looked firmer, her eyes more bright, and her smile more relaxed. There was a repose to her that hadn’t been there before. Even her shoulders looked more relaxed.

Back when they’d first met, Kara had told Lena that her health would be better if she kept up with the massages; Lena had insisted she would be fine without them.

Point: Lena.

Lena looked better than fine. And, for some reason, Kara felt a little sick about that.

“I, uh, don’t know what kind of companies you run,” she managed to say. “So I don’t know that I’m the right person to ask.”

Eleanor’s eyebrows popped up. “Really? Given your shared interests, I would have thought there would be a business relationship between the two of you.”

Kara tried for a smile but was pretty sure it went flat before it ever really happened. “No. Only massages. Although we haven’t been doing that for the past few months.” She looked over at Lena, unable to stop herself from adding. “And as much as I’d like to say that it looks like you’re missing me, it’s not true. You look great. Whatever you’re doing is really working.”

In a rare move, Lena’s eyes dropped as she replied. “Thanks.”

The Queen of Eye Contact looking at a cup as she spoke? What was that about?

“Can I ask what you’re doing differently?” Kara asked, growing even more curious. “Maybe I can pass off the tip to others. Is it a regimen? A supplement? Tai Chi?" Where the fuck had that come from? "What's your secret?”

Lena took a breath and her eyes came back up. “Nothing specific, really. Getting more sleep, I guess. But mainly just working.”

It didn’t feel like the whole truth, but Kara knew it would be weird to push harder—especially in front of Eleanor. So she let it go.

“Well, then, the extra rest looks good on you,” Kara said with the smile she used most often after yoga classes while answering questions—nice enough to show she cared, but also hinting at an interest to get out the door. “Sorry I don’t have any good input on a store idea. I’m sure anything Ms. Luthor chooses will be perfect.”

Eleanor smiled at that. “Again, you take the words right out of my mouth.”

Kara held up her drink and started backing toward the door. “Anyway, I have a class starting soon so I’ve gotta run.”

“Of course,” Lena said, uncrossing her legs under the table for some reason.

“I hope you get a store here, though,” Kara added. “I’d love to see you around and see the kind of stuff you make.”

“I’ll take that into consideration,” Lena replied, one knee bouncing under the table. Since when was she a fidgeter?

If Kara thought about it too long, she’d start staring and make things weird.

All she wanted to do was tell Eleanor to fuck off and take the seat across from Lena herself. But then she saw the glow in Lena’s skin that hadn’t been there before … the healthy weight she gained back … the lack of tension in her face, and she knew she’d been lying to herself these past few months.

Lena Luthor didn’t regret cutting Kara out of her life.

In fact, she was better for it.

Realizing that, Kara knew she had to go.

“Good to see you,” Kara said, stepping away. And it was. She meant that. It hurt like hell for some reason, but she was still glad it happened.

It was good to know Lena was happy. She totally deserved it.

“You, too,” Lena replied, those jade eyes watching her just like they watched everything.

It used to make Kara feel special when Lena looked at her like that, but now it just made her want to call in sick for the rest of the day. The feeling was so out of nowhere, she didn’t know what to do with it until she remembered what she’d been doing with it for the past five months or so.

Drinking like a fucking fish.

She kept moving away, spinning on her heel to face the door as she called out, “Have a good one!” as she headed out the door.

She had classes she needed to get ready for.


	44. Chapter 44

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which, Kara starts slipping a little bit...

“On your next inhale, gaze forward, and come up on your toes,” Kara said in the sing-song serene tone people expected from their yoga instructors.

But her head was somewhere else.

The more she thought about the run-in at the coffee shop, the more it felt like a rock in her shoe … a sensation made more obnoxious by the fact that she wasn’t wearing any shoes.

“Walk your feet half-way to your hands,” she continued, forcing herself to stay on task. “Exhale into forward fold and really _embrace_ the stretch here. We’re moving to the trapeze next, so this is your chance to really check in with your body. Feel out any tension or kinks you might want to acknowledge before we transition to the next level.”

Kara wanted to acknowledge that the way Eleanor’s hand had been moving on her coffee cup earlier had not been normal. People didn’t just stroke their coffee lids with the pads of their finger in gently, teasing motions.

Not when they weren’t flirting.

And Kara didn’t remember the woman’s perfume being that strong when she massaged her … or her fingernails that short. If she remembered correctly, Eleanor’s nails had been longer and polished.

Today, they’d been short and polished as they finger-fucked a goddamn to-go lid like an invitation to move to a second location.

And if Kara had noticed, then Lena had noticed.

That woman noticed everything.

It was while obsessing about that Kara realized they’d all been stretching in forward fold for a bit longer than usual.

“Now let’s roll up, vertebrae by vertebrae,” she continued gently. “Finishing with a swan dive up into a fully extended, upright position. Move through the stretch, bringing your hands around to heart center as we come to the fun part.”

She took position in front of her sling and waited for all the students to do the same.

“Grab the top handles above your head. Now squat down before jumping straight up, letting your arms pull you up and hold as you find your seat.”

She hopped into position, holding it until everyone in the class had joined her. It took some of them a few tries, but they were all getting better. Even Mac, who was one of her regulars now that Kara’s gym wasn’t out in the boondocks. It was nice to see a friendly face. Especially when she was feeling so pissy.

“Adjust your fabric to make sure it is supporting you evenly. When everything feels good, transition to your middle grips—getting a good hold—before you engage your core and start to lean into turning your world upside-down. Take your legs wide and wrap them around to secure yourself into place.” This was probably one of the positions Eleanor wanted Lena in. “Once you are secure, release the handles and let gravity take your hands toward the floor as you exhale.”

Several of the students did everything in time with her, but a few fumbled. Kara kept her eyes on them as she continued to speak as if everyone was doing just great.

“We’ll stay here for a few breaths,” she said, leaning into a sigh. “Letting our body adjust to being upside-down, and feeling the release of the natural stretch of gravity.”

It was a good position to chill out in, and Kara gave it a try. But when she pushed all things Eleanor from her mind, she was left with the images of contoured lips, porcelain skin, and guarded eyes that dipped away from hers instead of holding strong.

Since when did Lena Luthor avoid eye contact?

Was she ashamed of Kara?

All of a sudden, the teasing motions of Eleanor's finger on the lid was back, only this time her mind saw the hand moving over Lena’s body.

Lena said she didn’t like being touched, but the woman was a fucking liar. Kara had spent no less thirty hours touching Lena Luthor and the woman sighed and moaned like everyone else on the fucking planet.

Lena liked being touched just fine. In fact, she craved it. Massaging her was like applying water to sand on a beach. She drank it all in like a greedy bitch forever ready to get pounded by the ocean.

Lena Luthor responded fluidly to touch, which meant she didn’t hate it. She probably just found it overwhelming at times and chose to avoid it altogether.

But she definitely liked it. Kara had no doubts about that.

And Eleanor Stoddart definitely wanted to do some touching. Kara had zero doubts about that either.

But Kara couldn’t be thinking about that while twenty-five people were hanging upside-down, waiting for her cue to do something else.

She had to get her head back in the game. Because it wasn’t like it mattered anyway. Kara was dating someone, and Lena could be with whoever she wanted.

_You’re just mad you saw her in a coffee shop with someone when she refused to go there with you, _she told herself as she guided everyone into the next pose. Then the next, then the next until the class was finally done.

Most of the class cleared out pretty quickly after. A few lingered with questions about pinched nerves and suggestions for modifications.

By the time everyone cleared out and she re-set the space for aerial silks, Kara had a fifteen-minute break before her next class got started.

Wanting to be alone for once, Kara headed to the break room—not noticing when her sister trailed in behind her. She was grabbing some water from the fridge when Alex’s voice made her jump.

“Everything good, sis?”

Kara whipped around, barely holding on to her water bottle. “Omigosh, you scared me.”

“Because you’re distracted,” Alex accused with a knowing only a sister could have. “What’s up? Everything good with you and Mike?”

“Yeah. Of course,” Kara said, leaning against the counter. “Why do you ask?”

Alex’s lips pursed skeptically. “You just said ‘coming’ like 800 times in that last class.”

Kara felt embarrassment rise into her cheeks. “I did?”

“Yeah,” Alex said, looking her up and down. “You started out normal, but about half-way through, your phrasing got a bit iffy.”

Shit.

“Got something on the mind, sis?” Alex asked, wiggling her eyebrows. “When was the last time you got some? Are you and Mike not—”

“We are,” Kara said quickly. They had been for over a month.

“Oh.”

Awkward.

“Then maybe you need more now that you’ve broken the seal?” Alex suggested.

“Well, Mike and I both work more-than fulltime, and I don’t like it just being all about sex every time we get together,” Kara countered. “We’re dating, not just fuck buddies.

“Fine,” Alex said. “Then maybe you need to tell him to really get up in there like a dentist, or something, and make the times you do hookup count. Because, babe, you’ve got some tension to burn. And—as your sister—I’m going to tell you it can’t show up at work like it did today.” She jerked her thumb toward the studio. “You do that once and people will think it was their imagination. But if it shows up again, some interested people are definitely going to notice and maybe make some uncomfortable moves. And you’ve worked really hard to avoid the flirty dynamic here, so … yeah, get thyself laid, my sister. And fuck that boy hard. That’s my advice.”

Kara shook her head, laughing. “So crass.”

Alex laughed. “What? There’s nothing wrong with fucking hard.”

“Who says that to their sister?”

“Someone bearing good tidings of great joy.”

Kara pulled a gag face that earned her a scrutinizing look in return.

Uh-oh. She’d triggered Alex’s mental microscope with that last exchange, and now had her sister’s keen eyes looking her over.

“Hmm. No glow,” her sister mused. “No skipping around or dreamy silences where you stare off into nowhere … maybe I should be asking if the sex is good to start with.”

Kara did _not_ want to talk about sex with her sister. “Yeah. It’s good.”

“Good? Or crazy hot?”

“We’re more chill than hot.”

“Okay,” she said, gesturing to her crotch like a dude to illustrate her next question. “How’s he for size?”

“Aren’t lesbians supposed to be the experts on size not mattering?” Kara deflected.

“Yes,” she said with an emphatic nod. “But men aren’t. So I ask you again—keeping in mind that I now know your man errs on the small side—how’s the fit?”

“Good. Nice.”

“Hmm. Two goods in a row,” Alex mused. “Next question: do you think it might be time to break up?”

“What? No. Not yet.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know,” Kara said with a shrug. “He’s nice. He’s easy.”

“But if that is translating into bed, then therein lies your problem.”

“I guess…” Kara muttered.

“Unless you want to keep telling your students to ‘come’ in every position you talk them into.”

Kara couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s terrible!”

“I’m quoting you.”

That was seriously terrible. But, at the same time, Kara was glad for the feedback.

Better from Alex than some lurker in the parking lot.

“Alex?”

“Yeah.”

“This was super awkward, so I owe you double for this one.”

Alex shook her head, smiling. “Nah, sis. This one was a freebie. I can’t let you owe me one just because your boy isn’t getting the job done.”

It felt terrible letting Alex think that.

Truth was, Mike was a very attentive lover—not really Kara’s type of attentive, but extremely thoughtful. It sucked that Alex was thinking he was a bad lover when Mike wasn’t even who Kara had been thinking about during her slip-ups in class. She’d been thinking about Eleanor-fucking-Stoddart, with her newly short nails pretending to be friendly to Kara when she’d never been anything but condescending to her before.

Apparently, she hadn’t wanted to come across as a snob in front of Lena for some reason, and Kara had been paying so much attention to Lena that she hadn’t noticed the shift in attitudes until she was talking twenty-five people into Inverted Star pose.

She really hoped she hadn’t said “coming” in that position.

Awkward.

Across from her, Alex headed to the door. “Well, I’ve done my sisterly duty, so I’m officially washing my hands of all this. You can address the situation or wait to see who will pull you aside for a chat next. A student? Jimmy? A lurker?”

“Ew.”

“That’s what I’m saying. Tell Mike you want to spice it up.”

“Message received,” Kara said, giving her sister a small salute.

“Good. Now get home and get yourself a bootie call. I’ll stay at Maggie’s tonight.”

“Cool. Thanks.”


	45. Chapter 45

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Please see the last tag in the overview regarding this chapter.
> 
> +50 = Bonus 😘

_Have him get up there like a dentist,_ she’d said.

_Her body just needed to make up for lost time,_ she’d said.

Kara’s brain had gotten the memo, but somehow her body hadn’t. And it wasn’t like Mike wasn’t doing his part. In the past forty minutes, she’d been pressed into walls, bent over the couch, and become very acquainted with his kitchen counter.

They’d finally made it to the bed, where Kara was riding Mike while he grit his teeth and tried to hold on.

Kara couldn’t orgasm in missionary position or any position where she felt powerless. She’d accepted that long ago with other partners. Being on her back made her feel trapped and she needed to feel free to let go.

Moving herself to the top was a good way for her to cross the finish line. And if that didn’t work, there was always doggy.

She wasn’t sure why, but that was her favorite … face pressed into a pillow, teeth marking her own arm, and her hand working between her legs as thrusts filled her from behind.

That was her failsafe.

But she could already tell it wasn’t going to happen this time. Mike was too far gone and she still hadn’t even gotten her head in the game. The lube they’d used to get things started was wearing thin and she wasn’t making more.

Not only was Kara not going to come, she wasn’t even in the mood to try.

So Kara did the only thing she couldn’t think of. She let Mike off the hook.

Arching back on top of him, she clenched her inner walls in several quick pulses and let out a little cry. It was all he needed to trip over the edge himself, emptying himself into the condom separating them.

She moved gently against him as he finished, waiting until he grew lax beneath her before she used two fingers to keep the condom in place as she slid him out of her.

“My god, that was awesome,” Mike panted up at the ceiling with a smile. “I love it when we come at the same time like that.”

Shit. How to lie without lying?

“I like it, too,” she said, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek. “Need a drink? Because I need a drink?”

His eyes sparked with interest. “Beer?”

“I’ll grab two,” she said, hopping off the bed and giving him a view of her swaying hips as she walked out of the room. But once she was around the corner she slowed and lost her strut as she finished the journey to his fridge.

Because, seriously … what the fuck was she doing? And why was there only one person she wanted to talk to right then—a someone who was definitely not the person she’d left back on that bed.

The person she’d left back on that bed was a really great guy.

He really was.

But he smelled wrong. He moved wrong. He felt wrong. He sounded wrong. He tasted wrong. Hell, even the texture of his spit even felt wrong to her. Kara’s mind knew Mike was awesome, but her body wasn’t playing along like it usually did.

It just flat out didn’t want him.

Rather than things getting better the more they learned each other’s bodies, Kara was just faking more. All the lube this time had been from a bottle. She’d pretended to be impatient to get going and let him think the lube was all about her need for speed.

But it hadn’t been.

She pulled open the fridge door, letting the chill of it wash over her already cool body, and for a moment she could only stare.

“You can fix this,” she said to the packed up leftovers and condiments. And beer. That’s what she was here for.

Yet she didn’t move. Because she didn’t know how to fix the situation back in the bedroom.

Mike crossed off every box on the checklist.

Respectful. Kind. Healthy. Charitable. Cute—sexy, even. Fit. But when he was inside her … crickets. And the longer he was in there, the louder they got.

How did you fix that? Tingling lube? Getting high?

Everything Kara could think of wasn’t a good direction to go. And it all involved lying a bit.

Sex had always been fun for her … easy, casual—not intense and screamy like it was in so many of the books she read. Fun. Like … dolphin fun. Playful and pleasurable contact … good cardio that made her smile before moving on to something else that needed doing.

And she didn’t like ending her cardio with nagging sense in the back of her mind that she was doing something wrong.

That she shouldn’t be there.

That she shouldn’t walk back into that room ... she should leave instead, and not come back.

But Mike deserved better than that.

He cared.

He really cared.

And he thought he was making her come on a regular basis because Kara didn’t know how to be honest with him enough to say something was broken between them … something was broken in her.

And she didn’t know how to fix it.

So she did the only thing she knew how to do lately. She grabbed a full six-pack and walked back to his room.


	46. Chapter 46

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> +50 = Bonus 😘

Lena was mucking her way through the latest tariff updates and their impact on her cosmetics company when her phone lit up with a call.

Jack.

She picked up. “What’s up?”

_“Hey, loser,”_ he replied. _“Where are you these days?”_

“New York,” she said. “Why? What’s up?”

_“Feel like flying home for the night?”_ he asked, his voice sounding a bit off.

“I’m scheduled here three more days,” she replied, skirting a direct answer. “What’s going on?”

A short pause. _“I saw your brother at the club yesterday.”_

Oh.

_“He’s talking shit about you.”_

“I see,” Lena said, pushing the reports away from her. “And how is this shit being received?”

_“Like a chocolate shake through a straw,”_ Jack replied. _“He had the room eating up every squirt from his ass. He knows about your big party next month and he’s trying to get everyone to no-show.”_

“Shit,” Lena breathed.

_“Yeah,”_ Jack agreed. _“And it got me thinking … I’m having a get-together tonight—all old money. Really old. The type of people your brother is angling to get in a room with. They’re all men, and they’re stubborn as hell, but if you want to fly home and mingle, you’d be welcome. I could introduce you around and maybe you could skirt your brother’s sabotage by leveling up.”_

Lena glanced at the clock. “It would probably take an hour to get the jet off the ground. That puts me landing just after eight.”

_“The party starts at seven, but no one will blink if you show up at nine.”_

“Then I’ll make that happen,” she replied, standing from her chair and moving to gather her things.

_“Cool,”_ Jack replied. _“It’s at my family’s estate.”_

“Perfect,” she said, closing her laptop.

_“I’ll let you go, but text me if you need anything or if there’s a change of plans.”_

“Will do,” Lena said. “And Jack?”

_“Yeah?”_

“Thank you.”

_“Hey, what are friends for?”_

Friends.

Lena wasn’t used to that word being used in relation to her and someone else, but it felt good.

_“Let me know if you feel up to introducing yourself in some formal way. It’s a casual night, but no one knows you personally, so I think we can justify giving you five or ten minutes to say hello.”_

“I’ll try to think of something on the way,” she replied, making a mental note to brainstorm on the way to the airport. “See you in a few hours. I’ll message you if I get a bright idea.”

_“All right. Catch you tonight.”_

“Later,” she replied, then hung up and called Captain Simmons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> only 13 chapters left after this...
> 
> What do you think happens?
> 
> Hint: This call was Domino #1


	47. Chapter 47

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> +50 Kudos = Bonus 😘

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Domino #2

“Great class,” Naomi said, a light sweat covering her brow as she walked to Kara while the rest of the aerial silks class cleared out.

“Thanks,” Kara beamed. “You’re getting crazy good. Is it cool if I film you a little next time?”

The girl’s eyebrow popped up in a way that reminded Kara of Lena. “And post it on social media?”

“Only if you’re cool with it,” Kara said, starting to stow the silks. “Or you can just watch it and give yourself some tips if you don’t think it looks good enough.”

Her bronze lips smiled. “Yeah. Sure. Why not? Let’s do it.”

“Sweet,” Kara said. “Wear something you want the world to see you in.”

In ten weeks, Kara had somehow attracted 25,000 followers on Instagram, and they weren’t bots. It was always cool to see their comments.

“Always,” Naomi said, sneaking a look off to Jimmy who was already looking back.

The chemistry between the two of them was seriously off the charts. If Naomi didn’t have a ring on her finger within the year then Kara would rethink everything she knew about love.

“Oh!” Naomi said, looking like she’d just remembered something as she turned back to face Kara. “You have plans Saturday night? Jimmy’s got his first time trying stand up at Open Mic Night.”

“What?” Kara gawked. “How am I only hearing about this now?”

“Because I just talked him into it last night,” she replied with a sly smile that hinted the convincing might have happened in a bed. Not that Kara was going to ask.

“Jimmy? Funny?” Kara said, shaking her head as she sent a playful scowl across the room to him. “It’s like I haven’t known him all these years.”

Naomi threw her head back and laughed. “I was thinking we could make a night of it. Alex and Maggie, you and Mike.”

Kara’s stomach clenched as her smile faded.

She’d been trying not to think about that.

“Mike won’t be there,” Kara said, avoiding eye contact. “We’re kind of not together anymore.”

Naomi looked shellshocked. “Wait. You broke up?”

Kara tried to shrug like it was no big thing even as guilt started chewing her inside-out. “Yeah.”

“I’m so sorry,” Naomi said, walking closer and resting her hand on Kara’s arm. “Do you want to talk about it? Are you okay?”

Kara busied herself with the silks. “It sucks. It’s sad. I’m a terrible person. That about covers it.”

“Uh, you are definitely not a terrible person,” Naomi replied. “There must be more to it than that.”

“No. That’s basically it. He’s great. This break up is on me.”

Naomi seemed to accept that. “So … why did you break up with him?”

The silks were stowed and now there was nowhere to hide. “He was all-in, and I couldn’t drum up any feelings above casual. It just wasn’t fair to keep stringing him along. Not when he was really caring and I was more feeling a friends-with-benefits vibe.”

“Ah.” Naomi nodded. “Got it. But you know that doesn’t make you a bad person, right? You can’t force chemistry or timing. It is what it is.”

“Yeah, but it feels like shit to be the one with the colder heart.”

Naomi laughed, a light buzz from her pocket getting her to reach for her phone as she continued talking. “That ain’t you, Kara Danvers. You’ve got a heart of gold. Mike just wasn’t the one for you. He—”

Everything about Naomi froze when she looked at her phone. “Shit.”

Personal woes forgotten, Kara stepped forward, instinctively trying to get a glance at the phone. “What’s up?”

Naomi hid the screen. “Shit. I’ve been missing messages for forty-five minutes.” Her eyes moved, reading something on the screen. “Ms. Luthor is supposed to be out of town until Friday.”

The texts were from Lena?

“What’s happening?” Kara asked.

“I fucked up,” Naomi replied. “Holy shit, I’m fucked.”

“Naomi, you’re freaking me out,” Kara replied. “What’s going on? What do you need?”

“To be at my office an hour ago making shit happen,” she breathed, eyes still reading. “Ms. Luthor is flying back and hasn’t been able to reach me. I’m still catching up on the thread. Hold on.”

“What do you need? How can I help? I’m done for the day. Tell me what to do and I’ll do it.”

Naomi shook her head. “You can’t. I’d have to have you sign a non-disclosure just to tell you.”

“Already signed one,” Kara said, earning a skeptical look from Naomi.

“Not the kind I need,” Naomi replied, looking like she didn’t know whether to run to her car or finish reading her texts first.

“Well, if it relates to Lena Luthor, then I think I signed my life away when it comes to not talking about anything that isn’t public knowledge when she invited me to her house to make a proposition in her dungeon.”

That got Naomi’s full attention. “What?”

“If that’s the NDA you need, I’ve signed it.”

Naomi’s finger moved quickly on the phone’s screen for about ten seconds until she seemed to find what she was looking for. Then she stared at what she found as if she didn’t believe it—finger scrolling. “Lena offered to make you her sex slave?”

Kara glanced around, making sure no one else was close enough to hear them. “Yeah. Before I started massaging her.”

“And you said no?” Naomi said, looking like she found the idea incomprehensible.

“It’s not my thing,” Kara replied, feeling a little angry for some reason. “Look, I’m just saying that I’m here to help if you need something.”

Naomi studied her for a few beats, the nodded. “Hold that thought. Mind if I use your office for a few minutes?”

“Go for it,” Kara said. “You know the way. I’ll stay out here and wait. Take whatever time you need.”

“Thank you,” Naomi said, giving her arm a grateful squeeze before running off.

When Jimmy saw her go and started to follow, Kara flagged him down, shaking her head.

“Don’t follow,” she said, intercepting him. “Work emergency. She’s going to use my office for a minute to get up to speed.”

“Ah, okay,” he said, still looking concerned. “Haven’t seen her like that before.”

“Well, something big happened while she was in class. She’s good, she’s just freaking. Better not to distract her.”

“Cool,” Jimmy said, relaxing a bit. “I’ll just chill for her at the register. We’re doing dinner after.”

“You might want to start thinking about take-out,” Kara said. “Or rain checks. I think she might bail on you. Whatever’s happening is on a clock, it seems.”

“Isn’t she always,” Jimmy said with a sigh. “The girl’s a workaholic.”

“Is that a problem?” Kara asked, sensing tension for the first time with him when it came to Naomi.

He shrugged. “I mean, I guess not. It’s what she signed up for and she says it’s only for another two years so I’m good with that.”

“Two years?” Kara asked. “How do you know that for sure?”

“That’s when she reaches the end of her contract with Ms. Luthor,” Jimmy said. “Apparently, being her assistant is a gig you re-up for in blocks of time, and it’s this whole negotiated setup with perks and responsibilities.”

That sounded familiar. Really familiar. And suddenly Kara was looking over toward her office wondering exactly _what_ kind of contract she had with Lena.

What was their history? Had Naomi been to the dungeon, or did she just know about it from filing papers?

Finding out suddenly felt very important.

“How long did she sign for?” Kara heard herself asking.

“Four years, she said,” Jimmy said on a huff. “I mean, technically, I’m not supposed to tell you that. I’m pretty sure she told me not to share any details with anyone else, but she’s allowed to tell people she’s dating what’s up, and she said she’s two years into a four-year finish line. So no marriage stuff until after that.”

Kara’s eyebrows popped up. “Marriage? You two are talking marriage?”

Jimmy saw his mistake immediately.

“No,” he said, frantically waving his hand. “No, not like that. She was just talking about how she couldn’t get married or have babies while under contract. Apparently, Ms. Luthor only lets single people be her assistants. She doesn’t think it’s right to place those demands on someone trying to build a family. That’s all she was saying. We weren’t, like, talking about marriage. It was all abstract. Naomi was just letting me know.”

And Jimmy was thinking about it. Kara could see it in his face and hear it in his defensive ramble.

He liked Naomi like _that_.

She knew it!

It was time to start poking at ideas for a wedding. Two years was plenty of time to slow-walk two stubborn people into populating the world with beautiful babies. Just like it was time for Lena to start looking for a new assistant—preferably male. It just made for better optics for an infamous lesbian not to have hot, young female models as her assistants.

The feminist movement could go suck itself on this one. A man needed to get that job as far as Kara was concerned.

“Don’t say anything, okay?” Jimmy pled, pulling her back to the present. “Don’t tell her I mentioned marriage. It’s not even a possibility for two years so it’s stupid to be bringing up now, and we both agreed we wouldn’t.”

“Okay, okay, okay,” Kara said, laughing at his earnestness as she waved it off a bit. “I won’t tell her you said a thing.” She motioned between them. “This conversation never happened. I get it.”

“Cool,” he said, taking a breath.

“In exchange,” she said, playfully squinting her eyes. “I’m going to need your first-born daughter’s middle name to be named after me, and I get to be her godmother.”

“What?” Jimmy said. “I can’t promise that.”

“Fine,” Kara said, turning on her heel with a shrug. “I guess I’ll just go to my office and—”

His massive hand clamped down on her shoulder and he groaned out a sigh as he pulled her to a stop. “Okay, fine. You get to be Godmother Kara _if_ Naomi and I ever have a kid.”

“Oh, you will,” Kara teased. “I was Team Jaomi from the start. Never forget that.”

He rolled his eyes. “You’re impossible to take seriously when you talk like that.”

“Which only makes it more fun when I’m right,” Kara said with a little smirk. “The faces people pull when they realize a dumb blonde outsmarted them is the stuff that keeps me going.”

Jimmy actually chuckled along with her. “Yeah. Those are probably like the faces I see people pull after I talk to them on the phone, then show up and watch them figure out I am black.”

Kara nodded. “That thing they do with their eyebrows?”

“Yes!” Jimmy said, arching his brows like a silhouette of a seagull.

“That’s it!” she laughed. “Exactly!”

He nodded, smiling. “And how their mouth does that thing—”

They both pulled the same face at the same time, completely in sync. 

Moments like this were why they were partners.

They were still laughing and pulling faces when Naomi’s voice called out from behind her.

“Kara? Can I talk to you for a sec?”

Kara turned to see Naomi poking her head out of her office. Her heart picked up its pace in excitement. “For sure.”

“Me, too?” Jimmy said, and Kara saw Naomi shake her head quickly.

“No, baby,” Naomi said, motioning for him to stay. “Just us girls this time, okay?”

“Okay,” Jimmy said, sounding confused but falling back as Kara moved quickly.

Naomi didn’t say anything else until Kara’s office door was shut behind them. “Okay, I need two big things to happen at the same time, and all other hands are on different decks. So are you seriously cool to help me?”

“Yeah,” Kara said, trying not to show how beyond interested she was. For once, she was going to get a behind-the-scenes look at Lena’s life. “For sure. What do you need?”

“I need two packages delivered to the same address, but they’re in different parts of the city. One is at my new office and the other is on the opposite side of town,” she explained. “I need you to get the stuff at my office, drive it to the address I give you, and leave it at the guard box. They’ll take it the rest of the way.”

“That’s it?” Kara asked, a little disappointed.

“Yes, it would seriously save my day,” she said, walking over to Kara’s desk to grab a pen and some paper. “I’ll make a list now of what I need. A guard will escort you to my office when you get to the building, and you’ll find everything you need there.”

“Where in your office?” Kara asked, moving toward the desk.

“Several places. I’ll write the locations along with the items.”

“Okay, cool,” Kara said. “And can I call you if I have any questions?”

Naomi’s hand stilled. “No. No, you can’t,” she said, sounding more like she was telling herself than Kara. “I won’t be able to talk to you and I’ll be driving.”

“Why can’t you talk?” Kara asked.

“Shit,” Naomi breathed.

“What?”

“Shit,” Naomi sighed, dropping the pen back on the desk and doing one quick pace before turning to face Kara. “So you know about the whole bondage thing, right?”

Kara nodded. “Yeah. That’s the room where we did the massages.”

Naomi’s brow crinkled in confusion. “You did?”

“Yeah. The bed was awesome and it couldn’t be moved,” she said with a shrug. “The room didn’t bother me.”

“Okay,” Naomi breathed. “So you really are cool with it?”

Kara’s heart started beating funny. “Yeah. Why?”

“Because … it would be better for me to go to the office and grab everything there. I know where it all is. You don’t, and it will be hard to explain all the items and locations. Only one thing needs to be picked up at the other location, but it comes with a lot of rules.”

“Sounds good,” Kara said. “I can do the second one. Where is it?”

Naomi cleared her throat. “At a sex club downtown. And the package you’ll be handling is a little more awkward to explain than the one at my office.”

“Why’s that?”

Naomi cleared her throat. “Your package is a person.”


	48. Chapter 48

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \+ 50 = Bonus 😘
> 
> Domino 3

Jack’s party was not going well for Lena.

She was the only woman in a room of men who were going out of their way not to include her. They weren’t being rude, per se. Nearly everyone acknowledged her cordially, as an invited guest, then moved on quickly to people they actually considered worthwhile.

Time was money, and her money wasn’t worth their time. That’s what they all thought.

And, yes, it had everything to do with the fact that she had a vagina. It probably didn’t help that she didn’t even like dicks inside of her either. That possibility would have gotten some of the men taking a shot at ending the night with her on her back in exchange for a promise that they’d “think about” whatever proposition she threw at them.

Then they’d never call.

If Lena was remotely straight, there was the possibility things might play out that way. But she wasn’t so, thankfully, she wouldn’t be tempted onto the casting couch anytime soon.

When dynamics like this played out in back-room boys’ clubs, they were easy to blow off. Those guys were assholes. These guys weren’t.

These were the real players. Heavy hitters. _Old_ money that was slow to accept change when the status quo was still proving dependable.

And Lena was a big ball of change in one person—a gay woman of orphan blood with a brother carrying on her family’s generational legacy. She was an upstart in their world, and upstarts were gambles who were better off dismissed.

Lena didn’t want to be dismissed. There were at least five men at the party she wanted active, working relationships with.

It wouldn’t be easy.

Without Jack, she wouldn’t even be in the room with them. That was Truth #1.

Truth #2 was that whatever she did would reflect back on Jack and potentially impact some of his relationships. Including theirs.

Truth #3 referenced the old adage that children should be seen, not heard. If Lena didn’t want to be perceived as a child in a room full of men, she needed to make herself heard. She needed to be remembered and relevant.

She couldn’t be a fly on the wall, or anything forgettable. Sink-or-swim, she needed to go all-in on making her impression and leave them with something to chew on. Competency was the name of their game. They all had alliances that could take their weight and hold strong during times of stress. They wanted loyalty, predictability, reliability, and longevity.

Lena understood that.

She just needed to show them that some women made better allies than men.

Namely, her.

And to do that, she needed to get some of them to talk to her longer than a polite greeting and she had about two hours to make that happen.

Her phone buzzed with a text from Naomi. _Package 1 & Package 2 en route. ETA: 22 minutes._

Lena was replying with a gold star when Jack moved up next to her. “Having fun?”

She sent him a wry look, to which he smiled.

“If you want to bail on your presentation thing, I totally get it,” he said.

Her ‘presentation thing’. The mere thought of it made Lena feel like she might vomit. She’d rather be back on the tarmac at Heathrow with a gun barrel pressed into her forehead than resort to what she’d mentally deemed _Plan Z_.

Lena was not an exhibitionist. Never had been, never would be. But when Plans A thru Y were DOA and jobs were on the line, Plan Z could not be left on the table.

Part of Lena had been praying that Plan Z would turn out to be an after-party gift to unwind with. But, no. The night, as it currently stood, was a total failure and she officially had nothing to lose.

She had to do it. Especially now that Jack was in on the whole thing.

Keeping her expression unbothered, Lena raised an eyebrow Jack’s way. “Why would I want to bail?”

“I dunno. They’re kind of being dicks,” he said with a shrug as he glances around at all the backs facing Lena’s way as the men conversed. “I get it if you don’t want to put on a show for them. But we can play this however you want.”

Jack was offering Lena an off-ramp. Part of her really, really wanted the escape … but an escape to where? Obscurity? Forgetability? To proving these men right to dismiss her by never doing anything that landed as a blip on their radar?

No.

She had to go big or go home. It was the only play here.

She had to give them a show.

“I’m good to go,” she said, looking over to the part of the room where a portable stage had been erected for musical performers. “I mean, you cleared the stage for me and everything.”

He grinned into a sip of scotch. “Just wanted to make sure I had a good view.”

“Good?” she scoffed. “You’re going to get the best view of your life tonight, thanks to me.”

“Well, no need to over-sell it,” he said, waving her claim off. “I just want to play my part in it making sure no one misses a thing. That’s all.” He glanced at the clock. “Do we have a timeline yet?”

Lena nodded. “Twenty-five minutes.”

“Okay.” He stepped forward, gesturing for her to follow him. “C’mon. Be seen with me until then.”

Grateful for the invitation, Lena followed his lead and started to mingle.


	49. Chapter 49

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Domino #4

Kara’s night was getting weird.

Really weird.

She had a handcuffed woman in the back seat of her car, for starters, and nothing about it was normal.

First off, besides the cuffs, the woman was wearing only two things: a robe and a tight, leather hood-thing on her head that covered everything from her nose up.

The woman definitely couldn’t see a thing, and she seemed fine with it.

“This is so exciting,” she said from the back seat like they were two friends going to a party.

Kara didn’t respond. She wasn’t allowed to speak or touch the woman anywhere but on her right arm. The woman knew this, but she just kept talking anyway. Kara had to physically bite her lip not to talk back.

“This is going to be so fucking hot,” she moaned. “I wish you’d put these cuffs in the front so I could get started.”

Kara almost turned the car around right then and drove the woman back to the club.

First of all, ew!

Second, what was going to be hot? And why? And _who_ would this woman be getting hot with?

Only one face came to mind as a possibility, and it had Kara’s hands sweating on the steering wheel. Because if she was delivering someone for Lena to have sex with then…

Then, what?

It wasn’t like it really mattered, right? She knew this was Lena’s kink, and Kara had declined the chance to join in. Multiple times. She still stood by that answer, too.

Lena could totally fuck whoever she wanted, however she wanted.

Totally.

Kara had been fucking Mike up until recently, so it wasn’t like she had any high ground to throw stones from when it came to the perks of celibacy. But … well, it was just weird delivering a sex buddy to her.

That was all.

Just that.

That’s why Kara’s sweaty hands wanted to skip the next exit and just keep driving to Canada or anywhere her muted GPS wasn’t currently directing her.

On the display of her phone, the GPS read: _EXIT freeway in 200 feet._

This was the moment of truth. Would she follow her instincts and head off into the horizon, or follow through for a friend and help Naomi save the day?

Gah!

Why did she have to be such a good friend? Sometimes it really sucked.

Kara took the exit and was immediately guided to a frontage road and told to take it for seven more miles.

Great.

Now she was out in the middle of nowhere with no street lights. Only her headlights lit the way, while the glow of the city gave her a sense of direction off to her right. She kind of knew where she was, but it didn’t change the fact that she was playing chauffeur in the middle of nowhere to a woman with a leather condom on the top half of her head.

There would be no explaining this if a cop pulled her over.

She should have accepted Naomi’s offer to bring all the stuff from her office. Maybe Kara would have had to dig around in some drawers to find everything, but she would have figured it out. And that would have meant driving down this road with a duffel bag rather than a mostly naked, handcuffed woman who was starting to fill the silence with every random thought that popped into her head.

“I feel like we’re going pretty far out of town,” she guessed. “We’re not on the freeway anymore. That’s for sure. We’re going to way too slow. So where are we?”

Kara bit her lip harder.

According to her GPS, in ten minutes this would all be a memory. She’d drop the woman off to someone who was already waiting to receive her and that would be that. Kara could then go home and not sleep for a week while imagining what became of her in the middle of nowhere.

Naomi _so _owed her for this.

For real.

Yes, Kara had totally volunteered and even pushed a bit to get a place at the table when it came to saving the day, but—

“Fuck, all this suspense is even better than when I was shoved into my trunk for my rape-fantasy experience,” she moaned. “The silence is killing me. Can’t you turn on the radio or something?”

No. Kara couldn’t. It was one of the rules: Make no sound, including masking sounds, like music.

“My contract says only women will be touching me tonight. Not men,” the woman said. “Since you touched my arm, I guess that for sure means you’re a woman. That’s hot.”

Kara kept her eyes on the road.

“In a lot of ways I prefer women,” she confessed. “I only date men, but there’s just something about a woman’s touch … a woman’s kiss. It’s so different, you know? And I like the variety from time to time … that lighter touch … those more artful kisses, you know?”

No. Kara did not know.

Not that it mattered.

“Especially when they go down on you,” the woman purred. “Men mean well. They totally do, and I love an eager dude down there. But they don’t know what we know, you know? And sometimes it’s nice to feel the touch of someone who knows. Just for a night.”

Kara really wished she was allowed to tell the woman to be quiet.

“I mean, I know no one is going to go down on me tonight. It’s not in the contract.” She sounded put out about it. “But I’d like to go on the record as being up for that happening next time, so long as it’s a female doing me.”

Was this why gags were a thing in the bondage community?

If so, Kara was starting to see why they were a thing. Because this was hell. She would give almost anything to make this woman shut up. She’d even play death metal. Maybe that would wash out the faint din of her father’s voice in the back of her mind, telling her that this was the kind of thing she should expect when dealing with the Luthor family.

She could almost hear the sermon in her mind about the slippery slopes of sin, and how you never knew how far you had fallen until you were driving a handcuffed, horny woman out into the middle of nowhere, wondering how in the world you ended up in the driver’s seat of it all.

How many times had her father lectured her about not losing her moral compass in an effort to fit in with the cool kids at school?

She’d been such a good girl back then … a real goody two-shoes.

Two shoes that were definitely a bit more besmirched now.

“You know what I love most about women?”

Nope. Kara sure didn’t, and she hated that she was about to find out.

“Everything about them is so soft. Even when they’re being firm, there’s just something so smooth about it. I might prefer a strong man six days out of the week, but there’s just something luxurious about a woman’s touch, you know? It’s like going to a spa—not something I want to do every day, but a nice treat every once in a while.”

The next turn was now half-a-mile away, and the destination less than a mile away from that.

Thank. God.

Kara would never be volunteering to help Naomi again. Once this “package” was delivered, Kara was getting out of the courier business. It was weird while it lasted, and she was definitely retiring.

“What are your seats made of, by the way. I hope I’m not getting them wet.”

Kara signaled. She was still two hundred yards away from the turn, but she wanted to distract the woman with something. Anything.

Happily, it worked.

“We’re turning? Are we almost there? It feels like we’re way out of town. Are we going to one of those remote barn venues?”

Dear God, Kara did not want to know what she was talking about.

“I mean, not that I mind but I hope it doesn’t smell. Farm smells don’t really put me in the mood, you know?”

_Same, Kara _thought, hating that they had something in common.

The woman grew silent, seeming to listen hard as they made the turn and entered the final stretch of road. According to the GPS, their destination would be coming up on their right.

At first, Kara had no idea how she was going to know where to turn, but then she drove around a bend and saw bright lights framing a massive gate that looked like it led into a private residence that probably looked a bit like the Luthor Estate when you got past the outer wall.

The finish line. Finally.

She didn’t signal as she turned up to the guard box. When a man stepped out of it and started walking toward her, Kara quickly grabbed the sign Naomi had made for her from the passenger seat and pressed it against the window so the guard could read it.

_PLEASE, DO NOT SPEAK. MY PASSENGER IS NOT ALLOWED TO KNOW WHERE WE ARE._

If this was the part of the evening where a film crew popped out of the bushes to tell her she’d been punked, Kara would have no other choice but to immigrate to a country that didn’t have TVs or the internet.

For better or for worse, that didn’t happen, though.

The guard shined a light onto the sign, blinding Kara for a moment until she hid in a shadow. Then the guard tapped on her window and nodded before motioning for her to roll down the window. She did, and he mouthed the letters _I.D _to her.

Right. Naomi had sped-walked her through all this.

Kara pulled out her wallet, digging out her license and handing it over. The guard walked back to the box to check her out and she reached over and grabbed the notepad and pen Naomi had asked her to bring. But when the guy stepped back out of the guard box again, he was holding a paper-sized whiteboard and a marker.

Clearly, this was not his first rodeo.

Kara put the notepad to the side.

_Drive to the main entrance, _he wrote._ Your contact is waiting to receive her at the base of the steps._

Well, hopefully, her “contact” knew who she was because Kara didn’t have a clue. But she nodded like she did before guard raised the gate and motioned her forward.

“Are we here?” her passenger gasped. “Is this it? You have no idea how much I want to look around and see where we are. There’s security, obviously. A hotel? The golf club?”

No. An estate. All Kara could see of it in the dark was lit by torch or lamplight, giving it a very dramatic feel. If this were a movie, she’d expect to go into a place like that and find people chanting in hooded robes. But this was real life. Whatever was happening in this house tonight probably wasn’t so weird as that.

Probably.

“God, the mystery is getting me all sorts of wet,” the woman moaned. “This is so fucking hot. I always love not knowing who’s fucking me, but this is next level.” A short pause, then, “Is it going to be you? Are you the one who’s going to make me come in a room full of men while they watch?”

_What?!_

Kara almost slammed on the breaks right then and there.

But she didn’t. Again, for better or worse, she kept driving up to an entrance lit with enough torches to guide a ship to port. Valets stood, waiting for cars, and with them stood a hot model-looking woman who seemed to guess that the VW coming up the lane didn’t belong to one of the actual guests, but to the person escorting someone from a downtown sex club.

Kara pulled half-way through the roundabout until her doors were right in front of the woman, then stopped. When a valet walked around to get her door, Kara held the sign up against the window again, just to be sure.

The man glanced at it and nodded like it was all normal.

Then the back door opened.

“We’re here,” the woman breathed as the new escort touched her on the right arm. That was all the woman needed to follow.

A moment later, the woman was standing up and the Kara’s door shut again, leaving her alone in the car.

She could leave now.

She totally could … except for the fact that she definitely couldn’t.

What was going to happen to this woman? And who was going to do it?

Kara had to know.

She had to.

So when the valet didn’t open the door, she got out.

The valet looked confused, like he expected her to drive off. And yes, that’s what she was told to do but things were different now.

Kara glanced over at the two women moving up the stairs together then motioned for the guy to come closer so she could whisper to him.

“I’m supposed to watch her to verify there’s no breach of contract,” she lied. She never lied. Ever. And yet, she was pretty sure she’d just done it perfectly. “Leave my car close. I won’t be long.”

She had no idea if that was true, but she said it with confidence before leaving her car with the valet and following the women up the stairs.


	50. Chapter 50

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Domino #5

When the overhead lights dimmed in the room and lights brightened on the stage, Jack looked at Lena and smiled.

“That’s our cue that Sam has everything on your checklist. You’re good to go.”

“It’s showtime,” Lena said, more to herself than him, before looking for a place to ditch her drink.

The other guests in the room seemed a little confused until Jack grabbed a mic from the side of the stage, gave it two taps to make sure it was on as he stepped up to center stage.

“Good evening, gentlemen,” he said in that carefree voice of his. “I want to thank all for joining me tonight. I find it’s good to get all the people I respect into the same room every so often and just have a night with no agenda. Just drinks and good company.”

“Here-here!” someone said from the darkened crowd, raising his drink.

Jack saluted him back. “I apologize now for adding one item of actual business to our itinerary—an introduction of one of my new partners—but it’s an introduction I think you’re going to like, unless you hate seeing naked women getting their sexy on. If that’s the case, now would be a good time to take a bathroom break.”

Lena watched the reactions. No one moved. A few inched in.

That was good for her.

“Excellent,” Jack said with renewed swagger. “We are about to invite a female sub into the room as part of a demonstration. She does not know where she is and cannot see anything. But she can hear. You are asked not to touch or speak to her. Anyone who does so will be asked to leave. Raise your drink if you’re good with that.”

All the drinks went up, several of the men sharing curious looks as Jack signaled to the back of the room.

Two massive doors open and two silhouettes moved through the opening as Jack turned his attention to Lena.

“Without further ado, I introduce you to someone I’ve spent the past several months vetting, and someone look forward to working with in the future. She is a woman who needs no introduction, which is why I’m going to let her introduce herself.”

Jack didn’t say her name, which was perfect. He just held the microphone Lena’s way.

All in all, she couldn’t have asked for a better introduction.

No one clapped as she made her way to the stage. They just parted and made a way for her to get through.

Lena reached the stage before the sub, taking the mic from Jack and facing the darkened silhouettes standing around her in a semi-circle. She could see faces of those on the first row or two but, beyond that, she mainly saw outlines. For the moment, she seemed to have all their attention and it was her job to keep it.

Lena brought the mic up to her lips and flashed them all a knowing smirk. “I don’t know about you, but I find that business is a lot like sex.”

Yep. It had been the right choice to skip the intros and sucking up. She had their attention.

“We can all do it alone, but it’s much better with capable partners who know how to perform and fulfill on their promises.”

That got a few chuckles just as Jack’s assistant led her sub up the platform stairs with careful steps.

“I know some people find contracts tedious, but I’m a big fan,” Lena continued, gesturing to her approaching sub. “So I thought I would invite a guest here tonight to demonstrate what it’s like to work with me.”

Her sub made it to the top of the stairs, fully on the stage, eyes hooded and robe properly draped. She looked anxious, but not nervous. That was good.

“The first thing I like to establish in my contracts are roles and responsibilities,” Lena said to the men before looking back to her sub. “We are not using names here, so our guest has asked that I call her Honey.” She looked over at the sub in hopes the men would do the same. “Honey, will you raise your hand so everyone knows who you are?”

The sub raised her hand, giving a little bob of nervous excitement as she did.

“Honey, you are to call me Mistress. I will be the one bringing you to orgasm tonight.”

Another little bob, accompanied with a smile. “Yes, Mistress.”

The sub didn’t have a mic in front of her, but the room wasn’t so big that her answer went unheard without it. Lena took a breath, her nerves fading as she sensed the woman’s enthusiastic compliance. Dee had really come through for her on short notice.

Everyone had.

“Honey, I want you to let yourself be escorted to me now,” Lena said

“Yes, Mistress,” the woman said before Jack’s assistant led her to the middle of the stage.

“The next touch you feel will be mine, and no one else will touch you again until after you climax. Understood?”

“Yes, Mistress,” the woman said, her voice huskier this time. She was already aroused.

Lena nodded to the beautiful woman escorting her—their eyes locking with a quick beat of interest—before Lena refocused on the task at hand, resting her hand on the sub’s right arm before addressing their audience again.

“I think one of the most important aspects of any relationship is informed consent,” she continued. “No surprises. No curveballs. Everyone needs to know what is expected of them, and what they can expect in return. These things should be put into writing and signed, creating roles, responsibilities, and timelines everyone has agreed to.”

Every eye in the room was on the sub, which meant it was time to make her the star.

“Honey?” she said, turning to the sub.

“Yes, Mistress.”

“I’m going to hold the microphone in front of you, and I want you to tell all the men looking at us right now what you signed up for in your contract tonight.”

“I, uh, okay,” she said, suddenly growing less articulate. “As far as I know, this is a business gathering with a bunch of men. We’re probably the only women in the room, which is fine with me. Whatever the case, you are the only one allowed to touch me while everyone else is only allowed to watch.”

When the woman paused, Lena gave her another prompt. “And what are they going to watch, Honey? What did you sign up for?”

“Oh,” she smiled. “That? I’m going to take off this robe and you’re going to make me come as you describe your business model to them.”

“Do you want to this?” Lena asked. “Do you consent to expose your body and your sexuality like this?”

White teeth flashing behind those ruby lips, the woman smiled. “Yes, Mistress. I love it when people watch me come. It’s my kink.”

“Excellent,” Lena said. “Then would you like to get started by taking off your robe?”

“Yes, Mistress. Can I please be the one to take it off?”

“Yes, Honey. Fast or slow. Take it off however you like.”

Lena had never had a more captive audience in her life as the robe slowly parted and slid off, revealing the woman’s naked body. Lena moved behind the woman to keep the garment from falling to the ground. The assistant at the side of the stage held up a large duffel bag, as if asking if Lena wanted it. Lena nodded.

“Entering into a partnership requires transparency,” Lena said into the mic as she traded the robe for the duffel bag. “And trust.”

She took the bag with her free hand and started back toward her sub—a genuinely beautiful woman, now that Lena was getting her first look at her. Lena was going to have to get Dee something nice for sending her someone this perfect to work with.

But for now, she needed to focus.

“Entering into a partnership with someone is very exposing,” she said to her audience. “To be a productive relationship, it has to be. Because the good stuff happens when everything necessary is on the table and you trust your partner to cover vulnerabilities while maximizing possibilities.”

She stepped up next to the sub and touched her on the right arm again. “Do you trust me, Honey?”

“Yes, Mistress.”

“Enough to restrain you in front of all these men?”

Her breaths started coming faster. “Yes, Mistress.”

“Good, because I’m going to open a bag containing items you selected earlier. Can you tell our audience what these items are?”

“Uh, well, there should be four things,” the sub said. “The restraint I chose lets me choke myself, but not touch myself. I kind of have a love-hate relationship with it for both of those reasons. But I chose it because it will give these guys a really good view of my vulva if you face me away from them, and I think that would be really hot.”

“Good,” Lena said, pulling the item out of the bag. She couldn’t look at this particular tool anymore without imagining Kara imitating a T-rex, but pushed the thought out of her mind as quickly as possible and hid the smile. “Is it okay if I restrain you now?”

“Yes, Mistress,” the woman panted.

“Then turn around and get on all fours.”

“Yes, Mistress,” the woman said, spinning quickly and dropping down.

Lena spoke as she worked, wishing for a hands-free microphone, but making it work. “As I mentioned before, I believe in restraint. Lack of restraint leads to laziness, and laziness leads to lack of creativity. We must have a will to find a way, and restraint reveals will.” She gestured to the sub. “She wants to come for all of you, and she wants to provide you with the most intimate of views. To do that, she must sacrifice some things. In this case, that is the ability to touch herself. That would block your view. She has two conflicting wants and has chosen the restraint that matches her goals. It’s the same in business. It’s lazy to want it all—especially from one partner. Instead, we should all design our successes in advance and plan for them.”

By the time she had the final cuff attached to her sub’s ankle, the woman was face-down on the stage, hands barely able to stretch enough to keep her face off the ground, thanks to the ten-inch cuffs attached to the neck piece. The foot cuffs extended far enough to let her legs bend at a ninety-degree angle. If she tried to straighten them any more than that, she would start choking herself.

Lena checked out the view the men were getting and saw she was fully waxed and already a little wet—not as wet as she was about to be, but wet enough that a sexual partner with a penis would probably dive in.

“Are the cuffs comfortable, Honey?”

“Yes, Mistress.”

Lena brought the microphone around to her face. “I want you to tell these men the last three items in the bag now, Honey. After you do that, I won’t ask you to speak to the audience again. Only to me as we get you on the path to feeling good.”

“Yes, Mistress,” she panted. “The last three items are a crop, a pheasant feather, and a vibrator.”

“Thank you, Honey. Now you’ve never worn these exact restraints before, so feel free to feel them out and test their limitations as I explain to these men what the rest of these items do.”

“Yes, Mistress.” No sooner had she spoken those words than she started writhing on the ground, grinding and arching and several other things that had a few men in the audience adjusting their stances.

Lena held up the vibrator, knowing most of the men didn’t know what they were looking at. They’d probably seen ones of more traditional shapes, but this one was a mound—flat on one side with an arched, soft hump meant to be straddled and ridden from the top.

“We all have that thing that gets us out of bed in the morning,” she explained to her audience. “Our carrot. Our cookie. Our motive to put in the work.” She moved back over where she had access to her sub’s hips. “Without this motivation, it’s easy to stay in bed and grow lazy, but with it—“

She removed the remote and used it to turn on the vibrator, the tell-tale buzz letting everyone know what it was without a word from her.

“Honey, will you raise your hips up for me?”

Honey’s ass immediately popped up in the air. “Yes, Mistress.”

Lena slid vibrator into position then moved her hands away. “It’s all yours, Honey. Move however you like.”

The sub’s hips went to work. “Can I make noises, Mistress?”

“Yes,” Lena replied. “Just don’t be louder than me or you will be punished.”

“Yes, Mistress,” she moaned as she worked herself against the vibrator.

Lena turned back to the men. “As you can see, motivation is good and the restraints have their benefits. So often things we see as limitations are just new possibilities in disguise. I believe in exploring these things with my partners.”

She leaned over and pulled the last two items from the bag, holding one in each hand. “The last two items Honey chose for this evening are a feather and a crop. If I was still having her speak to you, she would tell you that I have her permission to use these items to both reward and discipline her on the way to achieving our shared goal of bringing her to orgasm.”

Maybe the guys were listening to her at this point, maybe they weren’t, because Honey was definitely putting on a show. The only thing to do was to move that show along.

“I don’t even have to touch her,” she said, dragging the tip of the feather down the woman’s spine and down the crack of her ass. When the sub started slamming into the vibrator and loudly begging for more in response.

Too loudly.

Lena replaced the touch of the feather with a crisp swat from the crop.

The sub immediately bit down on her hand and got quieter, hips still firing like a piston.

“Using the tools she’s given me, I can give Honey what she wants while maintaining terms.”

Lena brought the feather back into play, sliding it up the sub’s leg and across the swell of those active ass cheeks, her eyes catching every shiver and reaction and following them into more heightened responses.

“Oh, fuck,” the sub started repeating over and over as her movements became more fluid and varied on the now-slick vibrator below her. She straightened her legs, pulling herself into a choke to try to get more pressure on her clit until she started to pass out. Her legs relaxed in reflex, restoring blood flow and waking her up again with renewed writhing.

The sub was rounding the bases quickly, needing very little stimulation to move things into high intensity. Lena could probably have her coming in under a minute with very little effort. If it were just the two of them, there was no way she’d take that path. She’d take her to the edge and back, over and over and over again, until Honey was sobbing for release.

But she had decided not to do that here. This was a business presentation at its heart, and she didn’t want the men to get too aroused. That would cut her off at the knees before she even got out of the gate.

The faster this woman came, the better. That would probably impress these men more than expert edging would anyway. Men always liked coming fast. They’d see a woman coming in a matter of minutes as a good thing.

Lena raised the vibrator remote up so the men could see it and pushed its button. The vibrations stopped and Honey cried out, arching hard in an effort to increase pressure.

“Oh, fuck, please?” she panted. “I’m so close. Fuck, I’m so close.”

Her hips writhed, seeking the lost stimulation by working harder on the mound and changing up the angles.

“Sometimes it serves to remove motivation if it serves the pacing of overall goals,” Lena said before hitting the button again. “But there is also a time to sprint.”

Honey cried out, hips grinding into the vibrator again as she smashed her face into the floor.

“There is something beautiful about helping someone get what they want,” Lena mused as the sub pushed herself toward the point of no return. “I quite enjoy it—especially if there is a win-win to be had in the process. Tonight, Honey gets to fulfill a fantasy, I get to introduce you to how I work, and you all get to watch a woman come. So long as everyone consents to their part, everyone wins. And that’s how I like to do things.”

She let the feather take another journey across the sub’s skin, earning new efforts against the vibrator and more self-choking as the sub started making unintelligible noises.

“I could make her come with this feather, but I can tell you right now that’s not was she wants.” Lena held up the crop. “This is what she likes. If I swat her on the ass with it three times right now, she’s going to come screaming.”

“Please,” Honey panted. “Please, Mistress. I need it. I need it. Please?”

It went against Lena’s instincts to give in so easily to begging, so she put the feather back to work until she saw Honey’s body arch in perfect invitation.

Then she struck—three times, right on the ass with the crop, all the strikes landing within a second of each other.

The scream that filled the room echoed off the walls and was followed with whining pants of release as her sub shattered at her feet before collapsing to the ground with her legs still spread behind her. Anyone who was watching hadn’t missed a thing.

Lena hit the button on the remote, turning the vibrator off one last time, letting her sub work against the now stationary mound however felt best as she came down from her high.

Ignoring her audience for the moment, Lena walked up near her sub’s head and squatted down, holding the mic behind her back.

“That’s right,” she said softly. “Take as long as you need. You did so good for me, Honey. You came beautifully.”

“Thank you, Mistress,” the woman replied between breaths. “That was so intense. So intense. Are they still watching?”

“Yes. They are.”

Ruby lips, a bit smudged now from rubbing up against the floor, smiled. “I can feel myself dripping. It feels like someone came inside of me.”

“That’s all you,” Lena assured her. “No one touched you. Not even me.”

“I know,” she panted. “But that feather … holy shit. You knew right where I’m sensitive.”

“You showed me with your shivers,” Lena said gently as she looked to the side of the stage to find Jack’s assistant still standing there. She motioned for the robe and got a nod from the woman. “I’m going to unbind you now, but I need you to stay where you are until your escort touches you on the right arm, okay? Then you will stand, put your robe back on, and let her guide you from this room. Understood?”

“Yes, Mistress,” the woman sighed.

Lena undid the handcuffs first, letting them fall to the floor before releasing the ankle cuffs and letting her legs go straight again. By then the assistant was there with the robe and Lena motioned for her to take over.

“Mistress?” the subbed asked, pushing up on her knees.

“Yes, Honey?”

“Can I have a kiss before I go?”

Lena debated. It wasn’t usual for her, but “You were a very good girl, Honey.”

“Thank you, Mistress.”

“You may kiss me for one second.”

“Yes, Mistress,” she breathed before her hand came up, feeling its way to Lena’s lips before seeking them with her own.

One second. The sub continued her good-girl streak and did exactly as instructed before pulling away. “Thank you. This was amazing.”

“You’re welcome,” Lena said before looking up to the assistant and nodding. Then she stood and turned back to her audience, bringing the mic back up to her mouth. “And that’s how I approach business relationships, gentlemen. Compatible goals achieved through approved avenues that allow us all to achieve our version of success.”

She could tell some of the men were watching the sub leave the stage, but most of the eyes were on her. That was good.

“I know I’m a new face in your crowd. I also know you have your options when it comes to choosing partners. The one thing you should know about me is that I fulfill my contracts to the letter and always take care of my partners.” Crickets. But that wasn’t a bad thing, necessarily. “I’d like to thank you for your attention, and our host for giving me this opportunity. I hope you enjoy the rest of your evening and looking forward to getting to know some of you better.”

As the house lights came back up, Lena saw her sub being led out the far door. Naomi would be waiting for her outside to escort her to a spa for aftercare.

For now, Lena could worry about other things, like what the reaction of the room would be to her gamble.

Before her presentation, she’d had zero interest from the room. If even one man reconsidered, that would be a win.

For now, only one man was walking toward her—Jack—holding a scotch in each hand. She stepped off the stage and met him halfway, uncertain if his smirk was a signal as to whether she’d bombed or nailed it.

Then he spoke.

“That went well, I think,” he said, handing one of the drinks to her. “How about a toast to the smartest guy in this room?”

Smug to the end. But Lena liked that about Jack. “Yeah? Is that supposed to be you?”

“Of course.”

“How do you figure that?”

He put his boyish smile on full display. “I was the first guy here to see your potential and make you my ally, wasn’t I?”

“Hard to argue with that,” she said with a smile, watching another man approach them as they tapped their glasses in a toast. “To the smartest guy in the room.”


	51. Chapter 51

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \+ 50 = BONUS 😘
> 
> Also, you'll notice I changed the rating from Mature to Explicit. Because ... yeah.
> 
> Domino #6

Kara drove home on autopilot. And the moment she got home, she went for the cupboard.

They were out of whiskey … and everything else, too.

Kara’s fault.

She’d lived a little large the last time she dipped in. She needed to go shopping before her sister counted the ounces that had disappeared and called her out. But that wouldn’t be happening tonight.

Kara pulled out her phone and texted Alex.

_U @ Maggie’s 2nite?_

Then she started pacing, not knowing what to feel or _how_ to feel it, only that she had to keep moving.

It was a little bit of everything all at once … like going to one of those fro-yo places—man, she missed sugar—where they let you pick your own toppings and serve yourself. And it was like she’d just heaped everything on—Nerds, peanut butter cups, cookie dough, gummy bears, toffee, raspberries, and marshmallows—and taken it all in one bite.

So gross! So … why was she still chewing on it all?

Why was she going out of her way to imagine details … then imagine them differently … to imagine herself on that stage in Lena’s shoes with Lena on the ground at her feet. Trusting … needing … naked and submitting to Kara’s judgment about what her body needed.

The mere thought filled Kara’s heart with a strange, insistent ache.

And that kiss—that fucking kiss—at the end. That leather-headed slut had looked ready to worship Lena with her mouth in any way requested.

And Lena? She’d kissed that woman like she was a bubble she didn’t want to pop. So gentle. So accommodating.

So fucking perfect.

Kara’s core clenched with the memory. And when her phone buzzed with a text, part of her brain registered a missed opportunity to have the phone pressed between her legs as it vibrated.

So wrong.

So totally wrong.

She would never do anything like that with her phone no matter how horny she got. That was the worst part of all of this. Kara was so turned on, she could barely breathe. And everything about this was wrong.

She turned the phone over and opened the text: _Staying at Maggie’s tonight. Hasta mañana._

Kara had the place to herself. That was a blessing at least. But, without alcohol, she wasn’t quite sure where to start in dealing with everything she had just witnessed.

_Put your hand in your pants, Einstein._

No. Not that.

Kara was undeniably turned on, yes, but there was a lot to unpack with that fact. Her night had been the definition of troubling, and she’d played an active part in it all. She’d delivered a woman to Lena Luthor to stimulate to orgasm on a stage like it was some sort of PowerPoint presentation.

WHO DID THAT?

Seriously. Who?

And with so much chill.

Lena had obviously cared how the other woman felt, but she’d never for a second looked aroused. Kara had been watching for it, but Lena had looked more like she was stacking rocks on a riverbank, balancing one on top of the other carefully without letting them fall.

It had been so academic.

And this was the bullshit Lena had been proposing when she offered to make Kara her sex slave?

Kara was almost offended.

No. Not almost. She was. She was totally offended.

If Lena Luthor thought she could get Kara off like that, she had another thing coming. Because seriously … no.

Just … no.

Fuck no.

If Lena wanted her to come, she was going to have to kiss her and their bodies would have to be all over each other.

That’s how Kara rolled.

She wanted to feel the press of those breasts and taste that perfect mouth while her hands grabbed Lena’s curves the way God intended.

“Shit,” Kara breathed doing the best to ignore the pressure building between her legs.

This was all so fucked up. She hadn’t unpacked a damn thing about her adventures with condom-head chick and how she had seen every damn inch of her except for her face.

Because Kara hadn’t looked away.

She’d stared at the whole presentation along with everyone else in the room. How could she not? Lena had this presence about her that made it all seem totally normal. Like a wedding toast or something.

But, god, how that woman had moved.

Kara had never seen a vibrator like the one on stage that night, but she’d pay really good money to have one appear in front of her right then. And one of those restraints, too. Except she wanted to keep her hands free. She only wanted to hook up her feet so she could try that whole choking thing.

No lies. It had looked amazing.

There had been this moment when the woman had tried to straighten her legs, pulling herself into a bow shape with the thick strap on her neck clearly cutting off blood flow. Watching her hips work from pure instinct even as consciousness faded had flipped a switch in Kara. She still didn’t know exactly what that switch was connected to, only that it was currently on and humming for attention.

There was something about the combination of desperate straining and the submission to its cost that had been—

“Fuck,” Kara breathed, her hand finding its way between her legs artlessly and giving her mound some pressure to try to appease the incoming tide a little longer.

Didn’t work.

Just then, her phone buzzed again. This time, with a call. Naomi.

Distraction. Thank God!

“Hey,” Kara said, picking up. “How’s your night going?”

_“Still have a few hours left,” _Naomi replied. _“But I wanted to check in … mostly to see if we’re still friends.”_

Kara laughed. She couldn’t help it. “You have a really weird job, Naomi.”

_“Not always,” _she replied. _“If it helps, I’ve actually never had a night like this before. This was a first. Lena usually keeps me out of the particulars of her sex life. But this was different.”_

Yeah. It had been. “That was weird as hell.”

_“Yeah,”_ Naomi chuckled. _“I’m sorry—seriously—but if it’s worth anything, you played your part perfectly and you have no idea how much I appreciate that.”_

“You’re welcome, I guess?” Kara said, playing it light and calming down a little bit now that she was actually talking to someone about it. “Where are you?”

_“At a spa. Our girl is getting a mud bath right now. She has one more treatment after that, then I’ll call her a ride back to the club where you picked her up.”_

“It’s so weird to think that someone is having a night like hers right now,” Kara said, starting to pace.

_“It is, isn’t it?” _Naomi laughed. _“Haven’t really thought about that before, but yeah.”_

There were a few beats of silence as they both considered that.

_“So you really don’t hate me?”_

“Hate you?” Kara echoed. “Never. Am I weirded out? Yes. Will I ever volunteer to drive a ‘package’ for you again? No. That won’t be happening. But you and I are totally good.”

_“Okay,” _Naomi said with what sounded like a sigh of relief. _“That’s good. I was worried. I’m used to crazy and this was even weird for me.”_

That was good to know. “What was that thing on her head?”

_“Just a bondage hood. Pretty standard. The woman picked it out of a line of blindfold options, just so you know. We didn’t force it on her or anything. That’s what she wanted.”_

That seemed to be a theme for the night. “She talked _so_ much on the drive over. I would have given pretty much anything for a gag.”

Naomi laughed at that. _“You should have heard her after.”_

“Ugh. I can only imagine,” Kara replied. Even though she didn’t want to.

She really didn’t want to. It made her feel funny inside to know that someone out there was getting pampered at a spa right then, rapturing in post-orgasmic bliss, thanks to Lena.

On one hand, Lena hadn’t even touched the woman. Not really, except for that fucking kiss.

On the other hand—

_“Anyway, I should probably go.”_

Kara’s mind jerked back to the present—back to her kitchen. “Totally. Thanks for the call. I’m pretty sure I needed it. My mind is kind of spinning right now.”

_“Well, call me if you need me. I’ll answer.”_

“Okay. Thanks.”

_“And I totally owe you for this. Don’t think I’m going to forget that.”_

“Oh, and I’m totally going to collect. Count on it. The day I need to move a body, that NDA stands.”

Naomi laughed. _“Cool. It’s a deal. Gotta run, but I’m glad we’re good.”_

“Me, too,” Kara said before they said their goodbyes and hung up.

Suddenly, Kara was alone again.

“Okay,” she said out loud to herself, restless again.

She started pacing, replaying everything in its entirety as she talked to herself.

“The main takeaway from tonight is that nothing illegal happened. It was weird as hell but totally consensual. And everyone was an adult. If the police come to my door, no laws were broken so it doesn’t matter that I promised not to say anything. Everything’s okay. Every_one’s _okay. It’s fine. Everything is fine.”

So why didn’t she feel better? Why was she still mad at Lena?

Well, not mad but…

But, what?

Lena hadn’t done anything wrong. In fact, all evidence suggested that she’d done things quite right. And it hadn’t been dirty or mean or anything. She hadn’t slapped the woman around or anything—well, except for her ass at the end.

And … damn.

Kara had never arched like that with her own orgasm. That was for sure. And it all had something to do with that crop smacking down in the right place at the right time … which was actually kind of totally cool. She hadn’t been close enough to see where—exactly—the strikes had landed, but it had to have been a trigger point opened up by the bow pose combined with pleasure.

And, god, who wouldn’t be riding high on that vibrator?

Then there was that feather Lena had been caressing with…

Kara closed her eyes as she remembered that one, only she wasn’t watching Lena use the feather on the woman anymore … Kara was the one holding the feather with Lena restrained below her … mouth gagged, eyes pleading.

Holy shit, that was hot.

Like … so hot she had to lean against the counter to take her next breath.

Her hand made a return trip down south before she was consciously aware what it was doing. She caught on real quick when it made contact, though, and suddenly her mind was back in one of their massage sessions, Lena’s body under her hands.

And then it wasn’t a massage table anymore.

“Shit,” she said, pulling her hand away and pacing as she tried to clear her mind.

That was definitely not something she needed to unpack about that night. That was just a rogue fantasy volunteering to lure her into something more diverting than figuring her shit out.

But … what if she didn’t need to figure anything out?

What if the night was what it was, and that was that? Everything that happened had happened. And while it was all new to Kara, it was totally fine out in the world at large. It happened everyday—well, maybe not everyday … but something like it did. And this was just her first time seeing it.

What if that was all the night was? Kara’s first exposure to something that totally wasn’t her thing. But it was someone’s thing, and that was totally fine.

Kara wasn’t going to judge. She still had a client who had fucked a pumpkin, for crying out loud. If he could brag about that, why shouldn’t a woman be able to ride a vibrator in a business meeting?

So the world was weird. So what?

Nothing illegal had happened and everyone had consented.

It was fine. Everything was fine.

So why was she so twitchy? And why did the thought of tying Lena down and spanking her for kissing that obnoxious leather-head sub until Lena promised never to do it again make Kara want to ride the vibrator in her room?

Shit.

This was bad.

Really bad.

So bad Kara might not even have to undo her pants for things to get mission critical. And it was freaking her out.

All she could think of was how those careful lips would feel against hers and the touch of their tongues when things opened up and the press of Lena’s breasts against her much flatter chest as they pulled together and—

“Holy shit,” Kara breathed, not sure if she was experiencing vertigo or just really turned on.

Or maybe she did know, because the next thing she knew she was headed to her room, practically tripping as she stripped out of her pants on the way.

She could have taken care of business right there in the kitchen, which would have been a first, but she’d rather not end the day with a concussion. If she had vertigo as a prelude, she was pretty sure she didn’t want to be on her feet when she actually came.

She kicked her shoes off, aiming for her closet but not really caring where they landed before stripping the rest of the way out of her pants and landing on her bed.

“Am I really going to do this?” she asked, her hand already doing it.

Apparently, she was.

She closed her eyes, taking herself to a scene she didn’t need to imagine because she’d seen it several dozen times—Lena naked in front of her, covered only by a sheet … her eyes closed and trusting.

_“When was the last time you had your breasts worked on?” _imaginary her asked. And when imaginary Lena opened her eyes to answer, real Kara lost it.

“Fuck,” she moaned, grinding up against her hand. And after that first push, her body wouldn’t stop.

“Fuck.” 

She rolled around to get on top of her hand to create more pressure as she started to ride. And then, suddenly, Kara was crying out, her hips bucking wildly as she went blind and got lost in a few pulses of heaven that left her panting and sweating into her sheets.

_Holy shit,_ was all she could think. What the fuck had just happened? She’d just gone from zero to blast off in under a minute. That definitely hadn’t happened before.

Was this some new kink she’d just barely tripped into? Pale jade eyes looking up at her like she held their salvation?

The question brought to mind perfect lips seeking hers and jade eyes lost in pleasure.

“Fuck,” Kara moaned again, hand drifting south to the place it had just barely left as her body sent firm signals that it wasn’t done.

What the hell was happening to her? She was like a wind-up toy that just kept on marching.

Thank God she was alone. Because … holy shit. This was so intense.

“So fucking intense,” she confessed to the empty room as she once again imagined Lena bound on that big lake of a bed in the dungeon. That alabaster skin bright against the dark sheets, allowing Kara to see every arch and shiver as she touched in the ways her body always begged for under her hands.

“Fuck,” Kara breathed, rolling over again. She couldn’t come on her back. Even alone. Although, she really liked the idea of wrapping her legs around Lena and rocking against each other as they made out.

“Holy shit,” Kara breathed, as her mind locked onto the fantasy and started building on it.

She bit down on her arm again, latching on to the bone this time. In her mind, her teeth had found a perfect collarbone and Kara was definitely leaving a bite mark on it.

Sensing she was close to drawing blood, Kara released the bite and pressed her forehead into her arm instead.

“What did you do to me tonight, Lena?” she whispered against the sheets, her breath shivering on Lena’s name.

Shit.

It would be so easy to come with Lena’s name on her lips, which was weird since she’d never said anyone’s name while coming—ever. Not even during sex. Everyone she knew who said names during sex had said the wrong name at least once.

No thanks.

Kara wouldn’t ever be able to climax if she had to worry about saying the right name, so she stuck to general terms and cursing when she felt compelled to say something during sex. No one had complained so far, but part of Kara was complaining now—the part of her with a name on the tip of its lips.

“How am I this turned on?” she panted instead of the name, already sensing a finish line. “How am I coming this fast?”

Her question was helpfully answered by a series of images her mind had tucked away for a rainy day from their massages together—snapshots of loose robes … spontaneous smiles … the contour of breasts under fine sheets … an ass Kara dreamed of biting like a dog dreaming about its mailman. She wanted to hear Lena’s scream as she released on her fingers while Kara felt it all like a tuning fork against her teeth through a bite.

“Fuck,” she breathed, wet-heat flooding her hand as she once again jockeyed to the finish line.

Seriously. What the fuck was up with her? All it took was one thought … one enticing situation to get her mouth-breathing into her pillow.

After her third orgasm, she had to switch hands.

She didn’t stop. She switched hands as she imagined Lena on her spanking bench, wrists bound and everything totally bare. Including that perfect ass.

Oh, the things that ass wanted done to it … so many sensitive spots and pressure points … so much tension begging to be released—not that Kara wanted to spend all her time there.

Not even close.

With a body that perfect, Kara would need to explore everything … with her hands … her lips … her tongue. The feel of her, the smell of her, the taste of her. Everything.

The next time Kara came, it was a slower climb with a smoother finish. Every part of her was drenched, along with the sheets.

She should probably change them and take a shower before she went to sleep. Just like she should probably stop imagining Lena crawling over her in her exhausted state, telling Kara they weren’t done yet before kissing her way down her body.

Dear Lord, imagining Lena doing absolutely anything was like dropping a quarter in one of the grocery store rides when she was a kid.

One thought, and boom. That horse giddy-upped.

“Last one,” she told the empty room as her eyes closed and her mind went to a softer space, where everything was lips and tongue paired with the gentle touch of pads of fingers.

She started crying as she made her final climb, unsure why, but not wanting to get up in her head and ruin the moment. Because she liked this fantasy. She liked it a lot. Her mind couldn’t keep track of anything other than the impression of being tangled together in a way that felt so sincere … so trusting … so real. And when her mind had her pull away to look fantasy Lena in the eyes to see if she felt the same, the memory of a remembered glances gazing back had her collapsing into her mattress like an avalanche, tears blending in with her sweat as pulses washed through her like the waves at high tide she got to ride twice in a row before everything calmed back down.

For a solid minute, Kara didn’t move. She laid where she was, hand still between her legs and stared at the wall, wishing she could think anything but what she was thinking. Because, in that moment, she would give almost anything to be face-to-face with the real Lena.

Part of Kara was still mad at her for making another woman come before kissing her with such care.

Another part of her was outraged that Lena put herself and another woman’s sexuality on display for a room full of men like she had. But what could she say?

_I was so mortified by what you did, I came five times! _

The outrage rang a little hollow at this point, as did her denials.

Kara was jealous as fuck.

And it was time to get real about what she wanted to do about it.


	52. Chapter 52

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> BONUS! 😘
> 
> Domino #7

Lena’s business introduction had been a hit, earning twenty-three RSVPs in the affirmative from those sharing invitations to her own party a month away. That brought the current guest list to ninety-seven, with eighty-one plus-ones.

All people she needed to impress, while also taking into account that some of those in attendance would definitely be spies reporting back to her brother.

Lex must have learned a thing or two while he was on the lam. That, or he’d hired a consultant to strategize taking his shot at her. Either way, her brother was biding his time when it came to coming at her directly. Lena didn’t like it, but she couldn’t play into his hand by obsessing over his next move either.

She had a party to throw, and the stakes couldn’t be higher.

Everything had to be perfect, with all staff members vetted and trained. And while some of that vetting could be outsourced to others, there were still a few things Lena preferred to handpick herself.

Bartenders were definitely one of them, and she needed three who could deliver on every level. So far, she’d gone through twenty and found two. She needed to find the third before she could move her attention elsewhere.

Contestant #21 was male, attractive, and had a résumé that would put him on any shortlist of most elite establishments.

But that was just paper. It was time to see what he could do.

“See the recipe card labeled _Collins_?” she said.

His eyes looked at the cards in front of him, spotting the one to his far-left and pulling it closer to look at it. “Yes.”

“Will you please make me the drink on the card?”

“Yeah. But you should know that this isn’t a Collins, it’s a Sazerac.”

“I know what it is,” Lena replied. “Will you please make it for me, as instructed, before moving on to the next drink?”

“Okay,” he replied. “But your ratios are wrong. I can make it better.”

“Did I ask you to?”

“Well, no, but don’t you want the best?” he said with a coy smile, leaning up against the counter and giving her a look that probably worked on the ladies.

She just happened to be the wrong kind of lady.

“No,” Lena replied. “I want what I’m requesting, exactly as requested.”

“Well, it’s wrong,” he said with a sigh before grabbing a chilled glass and coating it with absinthe.

_Millennials, _was all Lena could think.

Hand a generation of people a search engine with Siri attached, and they thought they knew how to run the world.

Surprise, surprise, the world was more nuanced than that. But Lena wasn’t going to be the one who lectured this kid on that. He wouldn’t listen anyway.

He was her eighth bartender like this—all of them different know-it-all versions of the same. All young—not that Lena had a problem with young people—it wasn’t like she was that much older. But she needed a bartender who knew how to read the room before reading their order. Someone who knew how to get things right when things were sliding wrong.

Every job had its skill. The difficulty these days was finding the person who took pride in their work—whatever it was. A being a bartender wasn’t a cookie-cutter skill. Not when done well.

Lena focused on paperwork as the guy made his first drink, looking up when he slid it in front of her.

“One Collins,” he said with a smile.

Lena sniffed, noting the aroma, and then took a sip.

“Wrong,” she said, pushing it back to him.

“Better,” he challenged.

“Wrong,” she repeated. “Which means we’re done.”

“Done?” he argued. “I’ve only made one drink.”

“Incorrectly, while the recipe was right in front of you.”

“Well, the recipe is wrong.”

“Goodbye, Damon. Thank you for your time, but it’s a no.”

“Are you kidding me?” he said, looking mad.

“No,” Lena said, gesturing to the exit. “Thank you for applying.”

His eyes narrowed, his previously arrogant tone turning a little more hostile. “Why? Because I’m a guy and you’re some feminist bitch?”

“No,” Lena said. “Because you don’t follow instructions, and I need someone who does. Now goodbye, Damon. You need to walk out now before you are escorted out.”

Grumbling a lot of things under his breath that made Lena confident she’d made the right decision, she signaled for Naomi to send in the next applicant.

Contestant #22. This one would be it. She could just feel it.

Or maybe that was just the alcohol setting in. Either way, things were getting desperate.

What she wouldn’t give for a leather-faced someone in their sixties who had seen it all and didn’t even blink anymore. They just took the best next step because they didn’t like mopping and made the best drinks because they liked people out of their faces.

That’s who Lena needed.

Instead, another twenty-something walked in. Female this time. Brunette. Off-the-charts hot, and dressed to attract both men and women. The curls of her voluminous hair framed a face that belonged in Hollywood, and her neckline revealed cleavage that could sell anything. To top it all off, she had legs for days and a smile that knew it.

If Lena had been looking for someone her guests could ogle at, this would be the one. But that wasn’t what she needed.

She needed a bartender.

Standing from her seat, Lena walked over to shake the woman’s hand—a hand that made a point to hold on a beat longer than Lena did.

Interesting.

She glanced down at the resume the woman handed over.

“Thank you for your time, Lucy,” Lena said, gesturing toward the prepared bar. “We have everything set up over here.”

Bonus points: the woman smelled amazing without being overwhelming. Lucy knew how to show up in the world, but did she know how to make a drink?

“I noticed the line has been moving rather quickly,” Lucy said as they both moved to their spots—Lena back to her reports and Lucy behind the counter. “Any reason you haven’t found your person? They looked like good candidates.”

“I’m not looking for looks,” Lena said plainly. “I’m looking for skill.”

Lucy nodded, as if maybe she was adding some double-meaning to her agreement. “I’m totally the same.”

Lena glanced up, noting how fearlessly the other woman locked eyes.

Oh, yeah. She was interested.

But that wasn’t what this was about.

“So what am I doing for this audition?” Lucy asked.

“You’re making me six drinks, as outlined on the recipe cards in front of you.”

The woman started reading them, a smile turning up one side of her mouth. “Collins? Like Avery Collins?”

Well, surprise, surprise. “Yes.”

The woman reached for a glass with casual grace. “I’ve served him before.”

“Is that so?”

Lucy nodded. “I think I’ve served three of these other guys, too. I recognize the orders but I’ve never made them like this before.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “Are you dropping inside knowledge on me right now?”

Finally! Someone who paid attention. “I just might be.”

“Well,” Lucy said, getting to work without looking away from Lena. “Lucky me.”

Forty rather-steaming seconds later, Lucy slid a napkin in front of Lena and placed the drink on top of it. “Here’s your Collins, Ms. Luthor.”

“Thank you,” Lena said before raising the glass up. And since Lucy was watching her, Lena watched her back—taking a sniff, following it with a taste.

Dark eyes tracked every tiny movement, dropping down to watch Lena’s chest as she breathed before looking back up to watch lips seal onto the glass for a sip. Then she watched Lena’s face for a reaction to the drink without apologizing for any of it.

The girl was good.

“Perfect,” Lena said, putting the drink down. “Try the next one.”

“The Walker? I don’t know who this one is.”

“Well, land the job and you’ll find out,” Lena replied.

“Oh, I definitely plan on landing this job.”

Definite double-meaning in that.

Lena gave the girl a second look, considering that double-meaning.

She had to move on.

She had to.

And while she could tell Lucy the bartender wasn’t someone who stayed anywhere for long, there was likely a win-win to be had. Lucy clearly wanted something. That was plain as day. And she was bisexual, if not gay, and had been baldly throwing sex on the negotiating table since she walked in.

There might be something worth looking into there.

“Well, you’re on track to do just that,” Lena said, gesturing to the second recipe card. “Now make me a Walker and impress me.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Lucy said, her voice low and sultry.

A second sip was all it took for Lena to know she’d found her third bartender. She pulled out a business card and slid it across the bar to her.

“Call my assistant tomorrow and she will give you all the information about the job.”

“I got it?”

Lena nodded. “You got the job.”

Lucy picked up the business card and looked over it before sending a coy look Lena’s way. “And what if I’d rather get the details from you, and not your secretary?”

Forward. But with coy eyes like hers, it was hard to feel offended. “I have a tight schedule. I don’t have the time.”

“How about after the party?” Lucy pressed. “Maybe I could help you unwind.”

After the party? Hmm. After the party, she just might be in the mood for something. “We’ll see how the party goes.”

“I can work with that,” Lucy said, holding up the business card. “Until then, I look forward to talking with your secretary.”

“She’ll get you all set up,” Lena said, rising to shake the woman’s hand. “See you at the event.”

Lucy’s strong, soft hand gripped hers. “Looking forward to it.”

The girl was subtle as a stripper, but maybe that was just what Lena needed at the moment. Someone who just wanted to unabashedly fuck on her way to somewhere else. No heart strings, just unabashed desire.

That just might be perfect.

“Me, too,” Lena said, happy to have something to look forward to after all the party madness ended.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah. I know. Guess who didn't call someone the next morning.
> 
> But we'll catch up with Kara now.


	53. Chapter 53

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> KUDOS = BONUS
> 
> ...and the next domino falls

Naomi officially had the coolest apartment ever.

Kara’s mouth hadn’t closed since walking in the front door. Naomi was one of those people who actually went out of the way to decorate and color coordinate everything. All the furnishings were white, black, and tan. Pops of color were limited to the art and collectible items she had on display.

It looked like Jimmy was going to start traveling a bit if the two of them kept going as strong as they were.

“I’m moving out, Mac,” Kara called over her shoulder as she checked out Naomi’s collection of tribal masks on the wall. “I’m going to talk Naomi into making me her new roommate tonight, and I’m totally moving in.”

“Finally,” Alex groaned from over by the bookcase as she and Maggie shared a look … one of those looks that made it seem like they’d made a decision together that they hadn’t shared with the class yet.

A conversation that stayed silent when Alex did a microscopic shake of her head.

“Uh, sorry, Kara,” Jimmy said, pulling Kara’s focus away from the exchange. “You’re a bit late to the game on that one. And three’s a crowd.”

Kara spun on her heel to face him head-on. “What? Three months in and you’re making the move?”

He shrugged. “It makes sense.”

Eyes narrowed competitively, Kara moved closer. “You’ve only lived with one other person. Tamber. And you waited two years before making that move.”

He shrugged as if her argument held no weight. “I like waking up with her and we already do it every day. Why pay double rent?”

Kara wagged her finger at him. “If you do this, you will be proving me right.”

He rolled his eyes. “It’s not marriage.”

“So says you,” Kara teased.

“Where did Naomi go?” Maggie asked, looking around the room.

“She just has a few things to finish up for work,” Jimmy said, gesturing down the hall. “She said she just has to finish an email and press send. Then I’m locking her out of her office for the rest of the night while we play.”

“It’s so weird to know someone who works more than we do,” Kara mused, turning back to the masks. Some looked African, others South American, but they were all cool in their own way.

“And, oddly, she still finds time to date,” Alex teased.

Kara looked over her shoulder and stuck out her tongue. “I totally did.”

“Yeah. For, like, six weeks,” Alex shot back. “And you’ve been broken up for half as long. I think it’s time to get back on the horse.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Kara said, losing any shot at a snappy comeback as a face came to mind … a face that existed on a different stratosphere than her.

It had been three weeks since she’d delivered the “package”. Three weeks of almost calling Lena … then chickening out and telling herself that she should just wait until the next time they crossed paths.

Face-to-face. That’s how she wanted to talk with Lena. Not over the phone. And she wasn’t sure Lena would agree to meet with her if Kara didn’t confess over the phone first.

Also, what if Lena had already moved on? What if she’d made a contract with someone else?

She’d looked really good the other day, and there had been a definite glow to her.

Maybe she was happy and Kara was just setting herself up for humiliation.

“Whoa,” Alex said. “Where’d you go, sis?”

Kara blinked back to the present. “Nowhere. Why?”

Alex sent her a knowing look that indicated she would be following up on the topic later. “You kind of spaced out there for a moment.”

“Just glad it’s the weekend,” Kara said with a smile.

Alex let it go while Maggie seemed to sense something was amiss. Jimmy was too busy pulling drinks from the fridge.

He already looked at home in the condo, and that made Kara smile.

“Babe,” he called out, loud enough to be heard anywhere in the apartment. “We’re getting started without you.”

“Okay! Be right there,” Naomi called from the other room.

Jimmy rolled his eyes. “Nothing but direct force is going to pry her from her computer.”

“I’ll get her,” Kara said, moving toward the hall. She wanted to see Naomi’s home office anyway.

No particular reason.

“Good luck,” Jimmy said. “If she tells you she’ll only be five more minutes, she’s lying.”

“Gotcha,” Kara said on a laugh as she moved down the hall.

Personal pictures lined its walls—images of Naomi in locations around the world. Japan, Egypt, Peru, and a bunch of other places Kara didn’t know by sight, even though they looked awesome. And Naomi looked like a supermodel in each one of them.

Kara stopped in front of a picture of Naomi and Lena on top of a snow-capped mountain somewhere. Lena was wearing sunglasses and bulky clothing that largely disguised her, but Kara would know that smile anywhere.

She wondered where they were and how long ago it had been.

When she finally moved past it, she found herself in front of Naomi’s office with a view of Naomi’s profile as she sat at her desk.

“Hey, workaholic,” Kara said. “It’s time to come party.”

“I know. I’m sorry,” Naomi said, flashing her an apologetic smile. “Just give me five more minutes and I’ll be right there.”

Kara smiled back. “Jimmy said you’d say that, and not to believe you.”

“He’s onto me, huh?”

“Yep,” Kara said, stepping into the room.

Sleek, professional, organized. Everything about Naomi made Kara feel so hodgepodge. The woman totally had her shit together.

“I’ll seriously be five minutes, though,” Naomi promised. “I just need to finish sending these specifications to a modeling agency.”

“For what?” Kara said, wondering what in the world Lena needed with models.

“An upcoming party at the estate,” Naomi replied. “Many of the guests are bringing a plus-one, but Lena wants attractive females there in surplus for all the guests arriving solo.”

Kara perked up at that. A party? With Lena present? “Ooh, can I be one of the girls?”

Naomi looked at her like she was crazy. “You want to dress up in formalwear and flirt with rich dudes?”

Not exactly. “If it gives me an excuse to visit that house again, yes,” Kara said. “You have no idea how much I miss that house. I’m sure the Bitch Queen thinks I’ve abandoned her.”

Naomi’s eyebrows popped up. “You know Bitch Queen?”

“Of course,” Kara laughed. “We had a lot of strategizing sessions together while I was moving the business. She was even the first to poo-poo my attempt at a logo. I showed it to her and she just swam away and didn’t come back.”

Naomi smiled, her fingers typing as she said, “Ouch. But, yeah, that sounds like something she might do.”

Kara shook her head. “She’s such a bitch. But I still want to impress her, you know?”

“I do,” Naomi laughed, looking relaxed for the first time since Kara walked in. “I totally do.”

“I want to see the flowers in spring over there … spend time on the grounds … say hi to Melly, and see if Javi is still on track to graduate with a 4.0.”

Naomi leaned back in her seat, studying Kara as she thought. “I can appreciate all that. But I don’t think this party is the right time. Lena really needs everyone focused and playing their part.”

“I can play my part,” Kara promised, bringing her hands up into a prayer position. “Make this the favor you owe me? Please? I moved a body for you!”

Naomi laughed at the play on words before looking hesitant. “I dunno…”

“C’mon, you’re hiring models to be there,” Kara said. “I’m a woman, too, and my looks don’t suck. I’m bound to be someone’s type. Plus, you have my NDA and you know you can trust me.”

“Yeah, but we’re getting everyone else from the same agency and there are all these rules—”

“Send them to me!” Kara said, turning her prayer hands into a little clap. “I can follow rules.”

Naomi looked like she was weighing fifty things Kara didn’t know about into her decision. “Lena won’t like it.”

“Why not? Lena loves me. Why would she be mad that I’m there? I’m an ally. Her friend.”

To her surprise, Naomi shook her head. “Lena doesn’t do friends. I don’t know what you are to her, but she’s not going to like you there. That’s what my instincts are telling me.”

“She won’t even see me.”

“She sees everything,” Naomi countered. “She’ll see you.”

“And I’ll wave, and she’ll move on. It won’t be a big thing.” At least, that was Kara’s biggest fear at this point—that Lena might look at her with that cool business look.

Naomi frowned. “Everything I know tells me you’re wrong.”

Kara’s head tilted in intrigue. “Why? What do you know?”

“What? Nothing,” Naomi backtracked.

“Has Lena said something about me?”

“Not a word, actually,” Naomi said, looking a little troubled by that. “Not to me, at least.”

“Really?” Ouch. “See? She won’t care, and all debts concerning handcuffed women wearing leather hoods in the backseat of my car will be forgotten.”

“Wow,” Naomi said, shaking her head. “You do have a way with words.”

“So I’ve been told,” Kara beamed. “Is that a yes?”

“That’s an ‘I’ve never gotten in trouble at work before, but I pretty sure I’m about to’,” she replied.

“You won’t,” Kara promised. “I’ll take all the heat. Promise.”

“Yeah, you will,” Naomi grumbled.

“So I’m in?”

“Against all my best judgment, yes,” Naomi said. “You’re in.”


	54. Chapter 54

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ... and another domino.
> 
> I'm posting this little tidbit before the ep airs tonight, just in case you all don't survive...

Kara’s. Ass. Looked. A-m-a-z-i-n-g.

"Holy cow," she muttered, checking herself out in the dressing room.

How was that her reflection?

Kara _had_ to have this dress, along with the heels on her feet. Not only did the shoes sparkle, but they brought her legs into the perfect balance of athletic-sexy before popping her butt out in a way that had Kara grabbing it on instinct when she spotted herself in the mirror.

She thought she had been working her ass off recently but, as it turned out, she had been working it in-and-up—into a nice, rounded bubble butt that all but begged to have its merits tested with a touch … maybe even a slap.

Kara gave herself a little swat and smiled.

When you couldn’t keep your hands off your own ass, you bought the dress. Even if it cost 30% more than you were planning on spending.

Kara had seriously never looked better, and the timing could not have been more right.

While trying on everything in her closet to pick something out for the part of sexy girl at a sophisticated party, Kara had struck out. Everything was so bleh, and she was sick and tired of feeling like the farm girl at Fashion Week around Lena.

She needed to look like someone who fit in, not like the girl Lena’s personal assistant had snuck in through the back door—which she totally was.

But she didn’t need to look it.

This dress definitely got the job done, as did the shoes. It was time to ring them all up.

Kara took one last look at her ass in the mirror and smacked it yet again.

“Game on,” she said for no reason in particular before changing back into her street clothes and heading to the register.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Predictions? 😉


	55. Chapter 55

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bonus time
> 
> Haven't watched tonight's ep yet (11/17) but word on the street is that it's perfect timing for some fix-it fic.
> 
> Perfect. Let's do it!

Over the past week, Lena’s estate had been transformed into a walking tour of her product holdings. The drive up the lane displayed some of her larger products, such as motor vehicles, water crafts, and recreational equipment. Duplicates were set outside in the back and around the labyrinth.

The inside of her home was set up like a walking museum, with displays around the perimeters of the public spaces and a few demo zones, run by the top sales reps for each product.

The food was perfect, the bartenders were killing it, and more than sixty people had chosen to be on time so the flow of the party was good from the onset.

Everything was perfect, save for one thing:

What the fuck was Kara Danvers doing at her party?

And why in God’s name had Lena never seen the woman in heels before? It was a fucking revelation—or would have been if the woman wasn’t flirting with anyone with a dick.

Lena had told Kara—day one—that seeing her on the arm of some dude at a party wouldn’t fly with her. It was bad enough to be rejected by Kara, but hell would freeze over before Lena let the blonde leverage herself into hooking up with a sugar daddy in Lena’s own home.

No. Fucking. Way.

“Are you okay?” Jack said, stepping in next to her. “You’re looking kind of PMS-y. Do we have a problem?”

Did _we _have a problem?

No.

Did _she_?

Yes.

Fuck, yes, she did. And she wasn’t sure what to do about it.

“It’s showing?” she asked, in lieu of an answer.

“That your chill plate is on fire?” He nodded. “Definitely. What’s up?”

Lena didn’t have time to explain, and didn’t know what she would say if she tried. All she knew was that having Kara there, flirting and touching on the other side of the room, wasn’t going to fly. Every time Lena caught glimpse of that blue dress, she lost focus. And every time she heard Kara's fake, flirty laugh, she forgot what she was talking about.

Lena needed to be on her game today, dammit. She’d invested way too much into this party to have Kara’s presence lure her into throwing it all away.

She had to get rid of her.

Permanently.

“I … need to take a meeting,” Lena said before taking a deep breath to brace herself for the task of banishing the blonde.

It had to be done.

“Sounds like a good idea,” Jack said. “Go for it. I’ll cover.”

Lena hesitated, assessing the situation for an extra beat before adding. “Can you find two of the hottest models currently floating and send them over to Walker for me?”

“Now?” he asked.

She nodded. “As quickly as possible.”

“Done.”

“Thank you,” she said, as they both moved opposite directions.

She moved across the room decisively, despite not knowing what she was going to do when she got to her destination. Yes, she could have security escort Kara out, but she didn’t want to make and scene and she didn’t want Kara to make one for her.

Plus, she was pissed. If she didn’t let that out, it would taint the rest of the party. The only way around that was to pull Ms. Danvers aside and let her know that her attendance was not requested—today, or any other day—before sending her on her fucking way.

Lena understood that the woman had the right to live her own life and be with whoever she chose.

But not in Lena’s house.

Fuck, no.

And she needed to make that as clear as the fucking sun to the blonde.

Her breath caught as she moved into sight of Kara and, for a moment, she lost the ability to swallow.

God, she was beautiful. Lena had really only seen her in Nikes and athletic wear, and that had been enough to put her off balance. But this? If she wasn’t careful, she might lose the ability to form coherent sentences until the only thing left to do was blush.

The royal blue mock-neck, sleeveless dress hugged every curve between Kara’s shoulders and thighs, with the hemline right above her knees. Below the choker-style neckline, a three-inch window opened up a view of Kara’s inner-breasts and everything else between her collarbone and ribs, with the view partially veiled by strappy detailing that just made the eyes want to look harder.

And Lena thought seeing her ass in those heels had been bad.

Goddamn. Maybe she did need to call security … especially the way the blue of the dress was reflecting up into Kara’s eyes, making them more vivid than ever as she over-laughed at whatever the fuck had just been said to her by Jonah Walker.

Walker was on Lena’s Top 5 wish list that day.

It terrified her that one look at Kara was all it took for Lena to be ready to burn that possible bridge right to the ground.

That’s what Kara did to her, and that’s why she needed to go. Immediately.

Kara’s perfect smile with its perfect teeth and expertly outlined lips froze for a beat when Kara spotted Lena’s approach. Then those usually kind eyes narrowed with something that seemed like annoyance, which just about tripped Lena’s temper over its limit.

Kara was annoyed at _her_? Where the fuck was she getting off looking at her like that? And why in hell was it totally working for her? In a flash, Lena didn’t know if she was more mad or turned on.

_Security!_

No.

She could do this. She’d trained for this. There wasn’t a person on the planet who could stare her down and win—well, except for her dad.

Only him.

But Kara Danvers could go fuck herself if she thought she was going to break Lena with one look. And Lena wouldn’t bend for her second look, either—the one that looked her down and back up before locking eyes like she was ready to touch gloves and fight.

Seriously. Where did this girl get off?

A few steps later, she was at Walker’s side and he was already turning to see what Kara was looking at when Lena touched his arm lightly. To her surprise, Kara’s eyes flashed with temper as they marked the casual contact.

“Mr. Walker, so glad you could make it,” Lena said in a practiced, smooth tone.

Walker smiled cordially her way, reaching out to shake her hand. “I’ve always wanted to see this property. Your father never was one for parties.”

_Father. _God, how she wished she could call her dad that. Lex had beat her out of that, but that didn’t mean Lena had to correct other people when they said it.

“It’s true,” she said with a smile. “He’s always been a bit of an introvert, but you can see a lot of his soul in this property. Have you visited the grounds?”

“Not yet,” Walker said, glancing out of the large windows overlooking where the labyrinth abutted the grass. The view was partially blocked by guests checking out the display of her sponsored race car with its hood up on the grass.

“It’s worth it,” Lena said, looking over at Kara. “Isn’t it, Ms. Danvers?”

“They’re stunning,” Kara said without hesitation. “This time of day is perfect to explore the labyrinth in the shade.”

She said the words like an invitation, forcing Lena to cut in before Walker could accept.

“Do you mind if I steal Ms. Danvers for a moment?” she asked Walker, again touching his arm.

A hot brunette and a blonde stepped up on the other side of him, blissfully on cue. They smiled as if to say, _We’re here. What do you need? _

Lena sent them a small smile that got Walker looking over as she finished. “I need to discuss a matter with her.”

“Of course,” Walker said, giving Kara a courteous tilt of his head as the other two women smiled his way and moved in to pull his attention.

Lena locked eyes with Kara. “Ms. Danvers, if you would follow me.”

The request was met with a flash of annoyance that Lena ignored as she turned and walked away, assuming Kara would follow her. If she didn’t? Well, then, security it was.

Lena put a little extra wag into her step as she walked, not exactly sure why except for the fact that it felt like the fair thing to do. The blonde had a thing for asses. Boobs, too, but Lena had caught Kara staring at her ass just as much so it seemed right to give the girl a beacon to follow.

Then, to her surprise, Kara fell in step next to her.

“Still too cool to touch me, huh?” the blonde snapped under her breath, shocking Lena with her intensity.

She’d seen happy-go-lucky Kara before. She’d seen Kara go full-awkward, deer-in-headlights, and even heard her rambling drunk. But angry?

This was a first. And it was also entirely out of line.

“Excuse me?” Lena said, guiding Kara away from the crowd and around a corner where people couldn’t see them.

“You heard me,” Kara accused, her vivid blue eyes all but pinning Lena to the wall. And god help her if Lena didn’t like it. “First day we met, you tell me you don’t like touching. But you don’t seem to mind it when your bartender makes a fuck-me-now move while handing over your drink, or when your brotp’s date adjusts your hair for you.”

Brotp? Lena had no clue what that was, other than a reference to Jack, so she focused on the larger picture. Kara was mad about Sam adjusting one of Lena’s stray hairs?

Yes, there had been some eye contact and interest there. But, so what?

“That’s Sam. His assistant, not his date,” Lena clarified.

“Right,” Kara sneered. “Because that makes it better.”

Actually, it did. Lena would never let one of Jack’s actual dates flirt with her. Either way, it was time to get control of the conversation.

“Look,” she said. “You’re the one crashing _my _party. I’m not sure how you got here, but I’m going to need you to leave.”

Shy, apologetic Kara was nowhere to be found in the eyes that stared back at her. “Why? So you can fuck your bartender?”

Was she being serious?

“Don’t deny it,” Kara added. “She was giving me a territorial look while I was following you just now.”

Was she now? “And why would you care about that?”

Those azure eyes stayed strong. “Maybe I just want to know why everyone gets access to you but me. First, you’re nice. Then you ask me to be your sex slave. And when I say no, all of a sudden you’re nothing but cold and courteous before cutting me off like we don’t have some connection I _know_ you feel. But you won’t even try to give it a chance. You just treat me like the fucking help no matter what I do.” When she moved in another inch, Lena could have sworn she felt Kara’s body heat burning its way through her dress. “You say you don’t do coffee dates, then I find you on a coffee date. You say you don’t like to be touched, and yet I’ve run out of fingers to count how many people you’ve touched since I’ve shown up today. Even Jonah, just now.”

There was a sneer on her lips as she said the words with a contempt Lena was sure wasn’t faked.

“I’ve known you for six months,” Kara said, edging in slightly. “Do you know how many times you’ve touched me?” She held up her hand in the shape of an _O_. “Zero. Not once.”

God, it was so hard not to read into that. “I didn’t know you were counting.”

“Well, it’s not hard to count to zero,” Kara snapped back.

This was _so _the wrong time and place to be having this discussion. And yet, “You said you weren’t interested in me.”

“Maybe not in being your slave, but I guess I still thought you might treat me like an actual person.”

Oh, no she didn’t. “I did. You asked for a job. I gave you the job, and I treated you like a professional. What the fuck else do you want from me?”

Kara’s lips parted, but no words came out.

Just then, a guest walked by, catching sight of them.

Unacceptable.

It was time to end whatever this was … even though she was less and less sure what that ‘whatever’ was. It didn’t help that Kara was four inches taller than usual with peek-a-boo slats of fabric offering Lena her first peek at the inner swells of Kara’s breasts. And Lena would barely have to drop her eyes to get a good look.

But she couldn’t. If she did, she would break. And she couldn’t break. Kara had to be the one to do that. She had to be the one to run away and not look back.

The blonde was under some misguided notion that there was some half-way ground between them where everything was hunky-dory. But there wasn’t. It was an all-in or all-out situation between them.

And it was time for Kara to make her choice. For real.

“We can’t talk here. Follow me,” Lena said, and headed for the stairs knowing that Kara was right behind her.


	56. Chapter 56

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Showdown time! 
> 
> And I must say that, after watching the episode, I feel like these next chapters are cosmically timed. After last night, you deserve them.
> 
> Here we go!!!

It was second nature to follow Lena down the stairs. Kara didn’t even have to ask where they were going.

She knew.

She just didn’t know what she was going to do about it.

All she could think was that fuck-me-now bartender was a total bitch, and Lena seemed to be digging the vibe. They’d all but eye-fucked when Lena had picked up her drink.

Well, two could play that game.

There was no time to say “hi” to Bitch Queen as she passed. Both she and Lena were walking too fast to be casual until they reached the security panel. A couple viewing the aquariums watched them go in—the woman looking a little curious about what was behind the door.

Normally, Kara would have smiled her way. It was the courteous thing to do. But she wasn’t feeling courteous in that moment. Half of her wanted to yell at Lena, and the other part wanted to go back to the moments like the first time she ever walked into this room when things had been free and easy with a lot of smiles.

But she couldn’t turn back time. She could only go forward.

Lena said nothing as they passed through the vault area, she just pressed forward into the dungeon, leaving the door open for Kara to close behind her.

Kara wasn’t sure why, but the room felt different.

“Kind of a strange place to have a talk, isn’t it?” she muttered.

“Not in the least,” Lena said, turning to face her. “You asked me what the fuck I want from you, and the answer hasn’t changed, Kara.” She stepped closer, eyes narrowed in anger. “I want you. Not some hour or two you carve out of your week for me when you want to grab a drink. You. Period. The whole deal. It’s all or nothing, and I’ve been very clear about that from the beginning. So you don’t get to crash a business party you weren’t invited to and bitch that I didn’t meet you halfway in some friend zone.”

Oh. When she said it that way, it did sound like Kara might have miscalculated a bit. But, in her defense, she hadn’t been thinking straight.

“I didn’t mean—”

“Nuh-uh,” Lena said, turning and walking over to one of the prop tables. “Whatever you _meant_ to do is irrelevant. What’s done is done. We’re here and you’re the one forcing me to deal with this right now. So we’re going to deal. You’re going to make up your mind, and that’s going to be that. Understood?”

Lena was talking to her like a sub. Kara remembered it clearly from the night on the stage and immediately felt rebellion bubbling up in her.

“That’s not why I came,” Kara said, her heart picking up as she realized Lena was taking her rings off. “I just wanted to talk.”

“Well, if you don’t want me, then there’s nothing to talk about. I’m not going to let myself fall for you when you’re just going to go off and fuck some guy who checks your boxes at the end of the day.”

Wow. That was … accurate.

“So this is the deal,” Lena said, removing her bracelets next. “You can stay here and find out how I want to touch you, or” —she gestured toward the exit— “there’s the door and you know your way out. And when you go this time, please don’t ever come back.”

“Are you serious?”

Lena reached up, removing the earrings dangling below her coifed up-do and placing them in a tray like she’d done it a hundred times.

She probably had, and Kara bristled at the thought.

“It’s time you picked your safe word, Kara,” she said without preamble.

“My what?”

“Don’t be daft. Everyone knows what a safe word is.” Earring number two came out and was placed in the tray. “It’s a word you will say if you want me to stop. After which, you will leave so I can network without the soundtrack of you verbally dry humping any guest with a dick.”

Whoa.

Lena was mad. Super mad.

This might be their first actual fight—not tension or a disagreement. An actual fight.

And Kara was totally feeling it. “You’re being ridiculous.”

“Uh-huh.” Lena looked her up and down. “Love the dress, by the way. Now take it off.”

Kara’s mouth fell open. “Excuse me?”

“Strip.”

“Are you kidding?”

“Not even a little,” Lena said, unzipping her own dress. “Get out of that dress, or get out of my house. Those are your choices, Kara. Door one or door two.” She slid her own dress over her hips and let it drop to the ground before stepping out of it. “Choose.”

No bra. Lena hadn’t been wearing a bra, or even any of that strappy tape used to hold curves in place. In one move, Lena was standing in front of Kara wearing lace panties, garter stockings, and four-inch heels.

And she looked better than any fantasy Kara had concocted up to this point.

They said that a woman’s nipples matched the color of her lips, and it wasn’t until that very moment Kara realized she’d never seen Lena without makeup before … without lipstick.

That seemed wrong. She should know what color Lena’s lips were without lipstick.

What friend didn’t know a detail like that?

“Lena,” she breathed, not quite sure what to say next. What did you say when a woman stripped down to perfect right in front of you?

“Undress, Kara,” Lena said, tone inflexible as she walked over to the hutch with all her tools and grabbed a harness before turning back Kara’s way.

Holy shit. This was really happening.

Kara didn’t know what to do, only that she was feeling a little lightheaded and she was definitely panicking. Her skin was suddenly so sensitive that she could feel the airflow in the room brushing against it.

Moments before, she hadn’t paid any notice to her dress, but now it was tickling her in spots. Especially her nipples … they were brushing back and forth against the fabric with every breath in a way that was starting to shake hands and team up with the chaos erupting between her legs.

Kara thought she’d known what being turned on felt like—she really had, but her breath wasn’t coming easy and everything suddenly seemed really bright.

That was new. Everything that was happening was new and it was freaking her out.

So she got mad.

“You really expect me to just strip and let you bully me into fucking with a party going on upstairs? Are you crazy?”

“Pick a safe word, Kara.”

Was that supposed to be a yes? Kara panicked at the thought. “I’m not picking a word.”

“It’s not difficult.” Lena loosened the clasp on the harness in her hands. “And you will need it to make me stop.” She crossed back over to Kara, eyes staring mercilessly … breasts within reach, nipples full and relaxed.

That wasn’t right. Wasn’t Lena just a little turned on by this?

“Tell me the last word you would ever say during sex, Kara.”

“I dunno,” Kara said, terrified the woman might take another step forward and that her hands might reach out and finally feel what those breasts felt like. She had to give Lena something to keep her at bay.

At least that’s what Kara told herself as she mocked her and sneered, “How about _Mom_?”

Her sneer was met with a crisp nod of approval. “That might be the best safe word I’ve ever heard.”

Something flared in Kara at the reminder that she was one of many to see Lena like this. “Yeah? I’m sure you’ve heard a lot of those.”

Another nod before Lena returned to the hutch. “Hundreds. But yours is the best. Be proud of that while you take off your dress so I can see you. Because I really want to see you, Kara. I don’t think you have any idea how much.”

Kara’s unintelligible response was silenced when Lena’s panties dropped, revealing a waxed mound, save for a thin landing strip.

Unable to look anywhere else, Kara forgot how to breathe.

“Remember, _Mom_ is your safe word,” Lena said, stepping into the harness. “Say it, and all this stops. And when you leave this time, you’ll understand why I can’t be your coffee buddy or that friend you hang out with when you want to bitch about your boyfriend.”

“Lena, can’t we just talk? You’re being really dramatic.”

She cinched the harness into place, not even having to look as her hands secured it in place like an old habit. “The drama stops when you say your safe word.”

“But if I say my safe word, you’re going to make me leave.”

“Correct.”

“But can’t we just talk? Does it have to be—” She stopped herself before saying _naked_, realizing that she didn’t want Lena to get dressed again. She really didn’t.

She just felt shy about joining her.

“Two minutes ago, you were in my face about not ever touching you,” Lena said, her expression faux calm even though Kara could sense the simmer beneath the surface. “Now you just want to talk?” Lena shook her head. “It’s time to stop moving the goal posts, Kara. Either you want me, or you don’t. And I have a party to get back to, if you remember, so I don’t have all day for you to get up in your head about it. This is a yes-no scenario, and ‘no’ means saying your safe word. Everything else is yes. Understood?”

Kara suddenly felt a little dizzy. “I mean, yeah, but—”

“Good. Now lose the dress.”

Kara stood paralyzed, feeling more like a deer in headlights than she had the first time she saw this room. She’d been a big ball of nerves back then—intent on playing things platonically.

Now all she wanted was to be touched, and the implications of that terrified her. It was all she could think to want in that moment, yet there was so much to consider that lay outside of this room.

“You’re in luck,” Lena said as she walked over to the dildo drawer and opened it. “We have a new line of strap-ons we just developed and I got the samples on Thursday. I approved one of them with you in mind, so it only seems appropriate to see if you like it.”

When her hand came out of the drawer, all Kara saw was a bull horn with sphere-thing impaled on its tip.

She took an instinctive step back. “What the fuck, Lena?”

Lena looked her up and down before she gave a terse nod. “Yep. About the reaction I was expecting.”

“For a strap-on shaped like a ball-tipped bull’s horn?” Kara nearly yelled, happy to finally have something to hold onto as high ground. “Who the fuck has one of those?”

Those jade eyes didn’t blink. “A billionaire who wants to get an answer out of someone who doesn’t want to be pinned down.” She held the terrifying phallus out in front of her in clear view of both of them. “Rather appropriate, really. And it’s designed with the circumference and length that got you smiling on your first trip down here.” Her eyes came up again, this time accompanied by a glimmering smirk. “This should stretch you into begging without ever bottoming out or hurting. I’m really curious to see how you like it.”

Ho. Ly. Shit.

Holy shit. What was she supposed to do? Where was the eject button back to normal in all this?

“I hate bulls,” was the only comeback she could think of.

“I know.”

Kara couldn’t breathe and she told herself it was because she was scared but that didn’t explain the pinch of her thighs or the fact that her clit was making very serious demands about getting some contact above and beyond her underwear.

Her clit was clearly a freak.

“Kara?”

“Yeah?”

“Take off your dress for me. Or get out of my house. You have five seconds.”

“Not fair!”

“Four—” Lena warned.

“Seriously?”

“Three—”

“Lena—”

“Two—”

“Oh, my god,” Kara cursed undoing her side zipper and wiggling the dress down until it dropped and pooled around her ankles. “I’m only doing this because we’re not done talking.”

“Yes, we are.”

“No,” Kara said, stepping out.

Like Lena, she wasn’t wearing a bra.

Unlike Lena, there wasn’t a whole lot there. Her panties weren’t terrible, though. She’d splurged on a sexy pair to match the vibe of the dress and was seriously thanking herself for that foresight.

As she straightened, self-conscious out of her mind, she found Lena wasn’t even looking. She kept their gaze eye-to-eye, her face stone.

“Underwear, too,” she said in a tone that made Kara feel like she was in a doctor’s office, not an actual sex room. “And shoes.”

“Lena—”

“Any requests for our first time together?” Lena asked, gesturing around at the offerings in the room. “Except the bull horn. That’s non-negotiable.”

“What about dinner and some manners?”

“Didn’t you eat upstairs?” Lena asked, sounding like a gracious host. “There are some really fine offerings, if I do say so myself. I thought I saw you eating.”

She had.

Point: Lena.

“What about manners?” Kara asked, willing Lena’s eyes to dip down and look so Kara could gauge her attraction. She was starting to think that the only thing worse than being ogled while being involuntarily naked was _not_ being ogled when you wanted to be.

“Months of propriety really didn’t get me anywhere,” Lena said with a shrug. “I don’t think manners work on you. You just dance around the obvious, wiggle your butt, and walk off.” She held up the horn. “So now I’m being super obvious. I think it’s fair play. If you want something, say it. If you want out, say your safe word.”

She snapped the attachment onto her harness like a punctuation mark to her challenge. When her hand moved away, the horn jutted out from her hips. Utterly profane.

And yet, Kara couldn’t look away.

“Should I tie you up?” Lena asked. “Would you like that? Would that help you say your safe word?”

Kara felt everything at once, not even knowing if she liked it, just knowing she didn’t want to move. “Why are you doing this?”

Lena stepped closer. “Why are you?”

Because she couldn’t stop? Was that an answer? Because the longer she looked into the cat-like gaze of the woman in front of her, the more breathing felt like a conscious effort … the more she wanted to test those lips and find out how the untested parts of Lena’s body fit in her hands.

She didn’t realize she was walking backward until her back touched up against the contract table … that probably wasn’t really a table now that she thought about. It was kind of the perfect size to lay a person down on.

“Say your safe word and all this goes away,” Lena said softly.

Kara couldn’t move. “Along with you?”

“Yes.” Cold. Clipped. Final.

For some stupid reason, her eyes thought that staring at Lena’s breasts while she made her decision was a good choice. And her neck. And her collarbones.

Lena had killer collarbones that had Kara licking her lips to make sure they were soft enough to match soft with soft.

Yep. They were. But Lena had seen the lick.

Shit.

“Lena…” Kara said, searching for an argument but only finding her name.

“Kara, there’s a party upstairs I need to get back to. Take off your panties or we’re done, and I’ll have security show you out.”

The bitchy tone resurrected a few of Kara’s brain cells. “How about we _not_ do this now and talk after your party? Can that be an option?”

“No.”

Gah! The woman was infuriating. “Why not? This is super rape-y, Lena. You’re being worse than a guy.”

“But you prefer guys, don’t you?” she asked with an arched brow before moving in. “Or maybe I should just act like a woman who sneaks into a party, balks like a jealous girlfriend, counts the people I touch who aren’t her, and then comes down here and acts like I’m the one being irrational.” Her eyes locked on Kara’s like a snake that was do-or-die. “Make up your fucking mind, Kara. And stop fucking with mine.” Another step. “Because, if you’re going to fuck with my head, I’m going to need you to fuck the rest of me, too.”

_Holyshitholyshitholyshitholyshit._

Those were literally the only words Kara could think as she gripped the table behind her, barely aware that she was opening her mostly bare body up to Lena even more with the move.

But Lena didn’t.

For a moment, she hovered a single step away, tension building until Kara could have sworn she felt her heart beating between her legs as her head grew a bit faint.

Then Lena turned and walked back to the closet.

“Wait. Where are you going?” Kara said, taking a few steps after her before forcing herself to stop.

Suddenly she could breathe again and her head felt like her own. Her situation downstairs whimpered like a puppy seeing Lena’s full ass for the first time.

Damn.

Just damn.

Just … fuck, she wanted to touch herself again.

This was a disaster.

“Where are you going, Lena?” Kara repeated when the woman didn’t react, her voice sounding much more territorial than she intended.

Lena returned to the hutch. “To drip this dildo with lubricant so it goes in really nice.”

Kara’s lips parted, her jaw dropping open as it searched for a response and found none.

“Hey, Kara?”

“Yeah?” she replied, nearly choking on the syllable. Her throat felt very dry.

“I’d really prefer not to ruin your underwear. Would you like to take it off, please?”

Less cold, more courteous this time. And the next thing Kara knew, she was stepping out of her underwear, noting the broad wet stain. She folded them so the spot didn’t show and set them to the side while Lena pumped squirts of lube onto the phallus and rubbed it around.

The extra lubricant probably wasn’t necessary … not that Kara was going to mention that. She was too busy feeling self-conscious about the fact that she was totally naked with nowhere to hide and no excuses.

Lena hadn’t pushed her against a wall and hiked up her dress. She hadn’t kissed her into a fever and removed the dress while Kara wasn’t thinking straight.

Kara was standing naked in front of Lena because she had undressed herself when she could have just as easily left.

And there was always her safe word … along with the fact that she had no intention of saying it.

Given a choice, those were Kara’s choices.

Her eyes moved over Lena’s silhouette, her heart racing at her curves and panicking at the strap-on. That tip was definitely thicker than anything that had been inside her before, and she wasn’t quite sure about the shape as a whole. The fit and the feel were unknowns that had Kara clenching her thighs together in a way that didn’t matter whether she was excited or scared.

It all felt the same at this point.

Kara was all but dripping down her legs, and Lena hadn’t even touched her yet. She hadn’t even tried to touch. She’d just gotten Kara naked with nothing but eye contact and words.

Well, almost naked.

Kara toed out of her shoes.

There. _Now _she was naked … not that Lena was looking. Kara really needed her to look at this point … to see the look in Lena’s eyes … to see if they kept their chill when they saw Kara as she was. No barriers.

“Sit on the table, will you?” Lena said, still facing away as she put the lubricant back on the shelf. “Legs uncrossed. Facing me.”

“Lena…”

“Mmm. I like it when you say my name like that. It sounds like we’re on the same page.”

Shit.

And then, Lena was facing her—eyes looking down and back up slowly and without apology. “Need me to lower the table so you can get on? Because I’m definitely going to touch you now.”

In one smooth move, Kara was up on the table and staring back into the most seductive eyes she’d ever seen.

“If you could see yourself right now,” Lena breathed, letting the thought dangle unfinished.

_I’d rather be looking at you, Kara _thought, the words not quite making it past the dry clench in her throat.

In truth, Kara didn’t even see the strap-on anymore. When her gaze strayed from Lena’s eyes, it locked onto her collarbone … her breasts … those lips.

Holy shit, she was shivering—and not from cold.

Her skin was as sensitive as a sunburn, her lungs as tight as a vice, and all she could think was that she was definitely about to get fucked as Lena crossed the room to her.

Definitely.

And, to be honest, the only concern she had about that was whether her legs were spread as wide as necessary for Lena to get into position.

Lena walked up to the table, comparing its height against her hips before torturing Kara by walking around to lower it to line up their hips. It was ridiculous that Kara’s heart pounded in her throat as she watched the adjustment. Somehow seeing Lena take note of the little details before moving in felt like being in the front of a rollercoaster right as it rounded the curve of the first big drop.

Then Lena was in front of her, her only touch the light breeze of air moving followed by the heat of her body—so close, but still not making contact. It was so tempting to grab her and pull her in, but it felt so clumsy. Kara didn’t know what to do. Not really. She’d gone down the Tumblr rabbit hole of gifs, sure, but her hands were sweating and her mouth was doing her nose’s job of breathing and she just didn’t feel all that suave, if she was being honest.

Lena had her right where she wanted her, and Kara didn’t want to be anywhere else.

For a split second, she watched Lena’s bravado falter, hand coming up to hover over Kara’s cheek—never actually touching—as if she questioned whether it would be pushed away or not.

“Let’s make a deal,” Lena said softly. “I’m going to touch you now. And, if you’re wet for me, I get to fuck you.”

There was nothing to do but nod—Kara’s voice long since failing her.

A beat later, a single fingertip pressed into the tip of her slit, sliding expertly down between her folds and along her clit—Kara’s entire body jumping at the contact, even though she’d been expecting it … _praying_ for it—before moving down to Kara’s entrance and pushing in like it belonged.

Somewhere in the back of Kara’s head, a little voice made note of the fact that, as far as first touches went, this was pretty fucking epic before being silenced by the feel of Lena’s finger sinking deep … deep … deep.

Kara closed her eyes and threw her head back, unconsciously leaning into Lena’s touch. Her inner walls were already clenching and her mouth was panting before Lena’s knuckle stopped her from going further and it slid out the way it came.

Kara whimpered at the loss when it pulled out, knowing she had lost all credibility and dignity, but not caring one bit if giving up the fight got Lena back inside of her.

Quick.

Kara wasn’t sure how she did it, but somehow Lena never looked away from Kara’s face the entire time—watching so closely and with such committed intensity that all Kara could do was look back and wonder what she was thinking.

What the actual hell was Lena thinking that had ended up with them here? Like this.

Then the woman braced one hand on Kara’s hip while the other positioned the strap on at Kara’s entrance.

“Wet. As. Fuck,” Lena hissed into her ear, before rocking her hips in and filling Kara like a forbidden dream. 


	57. Chapter 57

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ... we're all adults here, right?
> 
> Just checking. ;)
> 
> Please sign your own consent forms to proceed 📝

Kara bit down on Lena’s shoulder on instinct. A beat later, she remembered the woman’s off-the-shoulder dress and released the bite, pressing her forehead against the spot instead as she looked between two perfect breasts, down to where they were now linked.

“Holy shit,” she breathed, not realizing she’d clawed into Lena’s back until her grip started slackening.

“Are you okay?” Lena asked against her ear, thumbs drawing comforting circles against her hips as she stayed still and let Kara adjust.

Kara nodded, wrapping her legs around Lena to create a better angle and leaning back to open herself up. Their eyes locked, and Kara clamped in her legs, pulling Lena deeper.

Fuck, it was thick—so thick she wasn’t sure if it felt good or not.

Kara didn’t hear herself cry out, but based on Lena’s expression, she was pretty sure she did.

“I’ve got you.” Lena’s hands moved up from Kara’s hips, along her sides and around to her back, giving her something to pay attention to besides the dildo. “Take your time.”

Those pale eyes … so expressive, now that Kara really dared to look … now that she really wanted to see. All the roughness and the chill from just a moment ago was gone. It had been an act. Kara knew that because she knew Lena.

Kara’s heart pounded in her chest, wanting to make a different declaration while whispering that—no—she didn’t know Lena. Not really.

But she wanted to.

She wanted to know every damn thing.

That one thought was all it took for her body to start feeling better about being stretched beyond anything she’d known as she dared to cross the bridge into what she actually wanted.

Her eyes dropped to Lena’s lips. “Kiss?”

Her brain couldn’t even form a sentence, but it didn’t seem to matter.

Lena’s gaze dropped to Kara’s lips and she punched out a staccato nod before rasping out an equally monosyllabic, “Yeah.”

Kara hadn’t even leaned in yet when Lena’s lips found her first. And the moment they touched, it was on. Neither of them led with a pucker, both going in like a swimmer breaking surface, open mouths locking as their hips went to work.

Nothing about anything felt familiar, and yet everything felt so right … the press of breasts, the fill of the strap-on, the territorial hold of Lena’s arms holding her like she meant it, while that perfect mouth introduced itself in ways Kara hadn’t even dared dream about.

Lord have mercy, Lena Luthor knew how to kiss—delicate with her own tongue, but greedy with Kara’s. The few times Kara thought she might be going in too hard and backed off, Lena’s lips would close around her tongue and suck it back where it belonged. Then they’d be at it again.

Meanwhile, the dildo stretched Kara in ways her mind didn’t know how to feel about yet, except knowing she wasn’t a huge fan of the angle.

“Bed,” she rasped against Lena’s lips, counting on her to fill in all the blanks.

Kara needed to be able to move. It felt wrong to have Lena doing all the work.

With the next thrust, Lena pushed all the way in, her arms holding Kara close as she lifted her off the table. Kara’s full weight settled into the dildo in a way that hovered between pain and pleasure. She was still trying to figure out which when Lena laid her on her back—the strap-on withdrawing about half-way before Kara’s back touched down on the softest sheets she’d ever felt in her life. Then Lena was thrusting in again as their lips reconnected.

Holy fuck, this was better.

So much better.

Even on her back.

Her head felt light and her lungs burned for her to stop kissing and breathe full-time. But she wasn’t ready to release Lena’s mouth, with its faint taste of scotch.

One stroke to her clit and Kara would be done. She was sure of it.

But Kara didn’t want to be done. Sweat had only just begun to create a slick between them that made every thrust more fluid than the last as they found each other’s rhythm and synced up.

She pulled her lips away from Lena’s.

“I’m going to come,” she confessed, tensing and trying to hold herself back.

“It’s okay.” Lena pressed a kiss to the edge of her jaw.

Kara shook her head. “Not yet.”

This was way too big to end in two seconds, or two minutes, or even two hours. Coming now would be like buying a chocolate cake, taking one bite, and then throwing the rest into the sea.

“Please? Not yet. Not yet.” Kara might have repeated the plea more than twice. It might have become a chanted prayer of hope. She couldn’t tell. She couldn’t even hear anymore. Her mind and body were on the cusp, with snaps of electricity whipping through her like an incoming lightning strike.

Holy shit. This was going to be intense.

And then something happened.

Kara wasn’t sure what, but the licking sparks faded from her body and everything started feeling a bit serene.

Lena still moved above her, working the strap-on out and in. But her motions were a little slower and smoother as Lena's hands worked Kara’s neck, her eyes watching Kara’s face closely.

Kara’s heart wasn’t so much beating as it was oscillating anymore—each beat feeling more like a radiation than a rhythm.

Part of Kara imagined that this was how astronauts must feel blasting off into space. One moment, everything had been intense, catapulting her forward out of her control, and the next she was floating in zero gravity, looking down on a world she had left behind with a sense of detached wonder.

Kara had never felt this way before … and she’d tried a drug or two.

But this?

This was new.

Whatever Lena was doing at her neck seemed to simplify the world with each passing heartbeat. Like in a movie, where everything goes into slo-mo except one person still moving real-time as rain fell like molasses around them.

Kara was that person.

The outside world might look at her and see blonde chick getting plowed by a raven-haired goddess wearing a strap-on, but the view from inside Kara’s head was serene and simple as she went slack.

She liked this place.

Everything made sense. More than that, everything she could think of was a: fuck, yes, fuck-no, or no fucks given.

Everything.

Batch-cooked microwave dinners? Fuck, no.

Salad? No fucks given.

Ice cream? Fuck, yes.

Pizza? Fuuuuuuck, yes.

Lena’s exotic fuck-me-now bartender upstairs? Fuuuuuuuck, no.

Lena?

In the field of Fuck Yeses, Lena lived in a tower at the top. Unassailable.

Fuck. Yes.

God, why had Kara been saying no to feeling this for six months?

For the life of her, she couldn’t remember. All she knew was that there was no room for regrets in her current space … only acceptance that the past was done, now was happening, and the future was whatever she made it.

Seriously, what the hell was Lena doing to her neck? It was like being high without being high.

It had to be some blood-flow thing because Kara could breathe just fine and she wasn’t choking at all as Lena’s hands and lips worked.

And Kara never wanted them to stop.

In the back of her mind, she wondered if she was supposed to be touching some sexual stratosphere right then. If so, she was failing. For some reason. all she could think was that she loved French toast made out of actual, fluffy French bread.

Yes, she knew the recipe was designed to avoid throwing out old, dry bread. Her mom had told her that a hundred times. _“Don’t waste the fresh bread. Use the old first!”_

But Kara liked it better with fresh and soft bread.

Why didn’t she have it more often?

It was so good … kind of like the feel of Lena pistoning between her legs like she’d been born to fuck like a man.

Being with Lena was definitely better than French toast, although the latter did put a happy skip in Kara’s step for hours. But she hadn’t had bread, in general, for years.

Non-blissed-out Kara knew all the reasons for cutting carbs, but blissed-out Kara voted fuck, yes to French toast!

She could burn the carbs at work and take happiness where she could get it.

It was settled. Tomorrow, she would eat French toast … after spending the night with Lena.

Because fuck, yes to touching this body all night. Some things in life were no-brainers. And sometimes—although very rarely—some things just clicked.

In this moment, Kara wasn't afraid to admit that things had clicked with Lena when Kara seen her in a picture ten years ago. Then, again, when they met in person. She’d always felt a connection … she just couldn’t imagine it being reciprocated.

They came from such different worlds. And Lena was such a force. Everything about her seemed superhuman to Kara—including her touch.

Especially her touch.

Why had she ever said no to this? What could possibly—

Oh.

Yeah.

Her dad.

Just like that, heaven disappeared and it started raining all the fucks Kara had ever given in her life. Memories poured in … disappointed looks and off-handed comments about her sister … sermons on sin with all of her neighbors offering up enthusiastic amens echoed in her ears … her mom’s hopeful face that she had one daughter who would have a traditional family and her father’s belief that he had one daughter who might not go to hell while Kara pressed her lips together to stay silent and try for a smile.

Things Kara didn’t even know she remembered poured from out the recesses of her memory, mixing together in a tainted stew that had panic building in her chest until Lena somehow sensed something was wrong.

Above her, Lena pulled away from her work at Kara’s neck and locked eyes with her. “Are you okay?”

And just like that, it stopped raining fucks and the world came back into focus again … because, yes. Kara was okay. But no, she hadn’t been for a moment.

The plunge and retreat of Lena’s hips grew even more gentle, as if she anticipated maybe slowing to a stop or pulling out entirely as one of her hands came up to brush at the stream leaking from Kara’s eye.

“Yeah,” Kara said in direct contradiction to it. “I just had a moment.”

A moment. That’s all it had been—filled with people that were peripheral to her life, at best. If Kara had to trade every single one of them and their goodwill to be with Lena, she’d do it. She’d cut those ties with big-ass scissors like a grand opening, so no one would miss it.

Hmm.

Scissors.

Just like that, everyone who wasn’t Lena disappeared out of Kara’s head.

“Are you sure?” Lena asked, those eyes of hers looking both gorgeously aroused and concerned … like a total eclipse of the sun—massive pupils surrounded by a ring of light. Kara could have stared into them all day.

Fuck, she was beautiful. For a moment, Kara couldn’t breathe.

“Yeah,” Kara panted with a nod, her hand sliding down to Lena’s harness. “But … off.”

When Lena froze, expression dejected, Kara could tell she’d misunderstood.

“Not you,” she added pressing an uncoordinated kiss to the tip of Lena’s chin. “The harness. I want to feel you. Just you.”

Yes, the strap-on was good, but Kara didn’t want to come on a dildo her first time with Lena. Suddenly it seemed important that it just be them.

The smile that answered her took Kara’s breath away before the feel of the tip pulling all the way out had her gasping again.

Holy shit, she was going to be sore tomorrow. She could already feel it, but couldn’t bring herself to care as she heard the harness clasp release. Lena pulled the harness off, tossing it to the side and letting it land with a thud on the ground.

When Lena’s hips settled between her legs again, it was smooth on smooth and slick on slick. The realization that she wasn’t the only one dripping without dignity made Kara light-headed as Lena lowered herself until they were breast-to-breast in a press that made Kara lightheaded as her breaths grew shallower.

Then they were kissing again, slick bodies moving easily against each other.

Fuck, yes.

Lena’s hand reached down, unabashedly spreading Kara’s lower lips open before kneeling widely between her legs and pressing them core-to-core. Then she started rocking their clits together.

“Fuck!” Kara moaned, throwing her head back as she processed this new way of riding. She knew that the internet was split on tribbing, but it was a fuck, yes for Kara.

Two enthusiastic thumbs up. Ten out of ten. Would trib again!

She felt like screaming and sighing at the same time. The slide of silk on silk banished all thoughts of anything not currently fucking her. And things only got better a moment later when Lena grabbed a wedge pillow from the top of the bed, propping Kara up at an angle that allowed them to kiss again—their tongues saying everything that needed to be said, without words.

Kara hadn’t known it could be this intense, this fast. Her mind told her she should be exploring Lena’s body—touching and teasing her body everywhere … working her up. In her experience, sex was light and fun exploration and recreation.

This was not that. This was a fucking rodeo where she felt blessed to last eight seconds.

The electricity was back—more intense this time and everywhere, but stemming from where their cores rocked together and skittering like lightning through clouds from there.

Holy fuck, this was unreal. Kara was usually an active lover, but all she could do was hold on and go for the ride.

“Lena,” she breathed, trying not to dig her short nails into the woman’s porcelain back. “Are you feeling this?”

When Lena pulled away to answer, she looked as blissed out and desperate as Kara felt as she answered with a jerky nod.

Then they were kissing again, sloppy as teenagers, thanks to their need for air. But once Kara’s brain figured out that controlling her breath meant longer kisses it got down to the business of figuring out a compromise.

Because fuck, yes to kissing Lena.

Her lips were amazing—both down south and up top. And kissing her both places at the same time? If Kara wasn’t two breaths from coming, she would have sworn she could do it all day.

But the feel of her lips holding on, paired with the exploration of her tongue was making her come.

Literally.

“Shit,” Kara cursed, trying to curl in and delay the inevitable. But it was too late. She crossed the finish line like a train running out of track at full speed—the world transforming into a wash of sensations in its wake as she held on.

Above her, she felt Lena clench and shudder under her hands as she cried out. Sharp teeth bit into Kara’s shoulder as Lena embraced going off the rails herself.

Kara didn’t come; she wrecked.

Like a train losing track as it pitched out over a ravine while getting struck by lightning at the same time, everything went tense yet weightless, suspended yet arced in tension, at the same time. Aftershocks surged through her, leaving her limp in their wake.

Kara leaned into the high like dust on a sunbeam, loving the feel of Lena collapsed on top of her—tilting her neck to expose it more as Lena turned her bite into sucking that was definitely going to leave a mark.

Hell, yeah.

Everything felt right in that moment. Lena’s breasts pressed into hers … her hips slack between Kara’s thighs … her heaving breaths against Kara’s neck and the fluctuating intensity of her grip as she came back to reality.

This.

Kara wanted this. All of it. And for a moment, she let herself have it—hands exploring up Lena’s back and down to her ass as they both caught their breaths.

She knew this body—where it hid, how it hid—and she couldn’t help but feel smug that there wasn’t a hint of tension in it for the moment. Lena was as at rest as a still pond.

Kara had done that. Lena might have made her come like a train plummeting off a cliff, but Kara had cleaned her clock right back. The usually composed woman cuddled into Kara’s neck like a kitten looking to nurse as Kara’s hands kneaded lightly to urge her on.

Five minutes before, they’d been arguing. Probably fifteen minutes before, they’d been upstairs. And now, a woman Kara could hardly believe was even real lay cradled between her legs like she’d just crawled out of the desert and found an oasis. And somehow, Kara felt like she was in the middle of the first thing in her life that ever really mattered.

Holy shit.

She’d never come out the other side of an orgasm feeling like this. She’d never felt more protective of anyone in her life. Which was silly. Lena didn’t need her protection—not by a long shot. Although, feeling her naked and sweaty and slack, with shivers rippling through her, did make it easy to imagine as much.

For a moment, the bigger-than-life woman felt small and vulnerable in Kara’s arms. And Kara fucking loved it.

“I’ve got you,” she whispered into raven hair, holding Lena close for a moment. Then Kara’s hands went back to making sure Lena stayed relaxed while Lena started kissing the mark she’d sucked into the crook of Kara’s neck.

God, that felt good. Decadent, even. Kara’s dress would cover that spot when she got re-dressed for the party, but she was starting to realize her work clothes probably wouldn’t. She might have to wear polos for a little bit or something.

Totally worth it.

Kara was in the wrong position to let her lips do any kissing in return, so she had to use her hands while waiting for her body to reset.

Fun fact: Lena’s ass _really _liked being fondled.

Kara was still exploring all the ways she could make it twitch and surge before she realized Lena was fully revved up again. That was slightly problematic considering all of Kara’s circuits were still torched. The spirit was willing but her body was fried. She was currently a no-touch zone from the waist down until her body finished rebooting after having her mind blown.

Yet Lena was ready to go again.

Kara rolled them over, moving off the wedge that was starting to get a little uncomfortable, and putting Lena on the bottom. For the first time since crashing out together, they were face-to-face. And when Kara looked down and saw the face looking up at her blissed out as fuck, her confidence in what she wanted to do next kicked up a notch.

“Someone’s not done,” she said, her hand sliding up and finally getting a hand on one of those perfect breasts.

This was the position she was used to in sex. The top. In control. But the way Lena was looking up at her made Kara feel like groveling.

Then she was treated with a lazy smile as Lena replied, “Have you felt your hands? I’m pretty sure I won’t ever be done.”

Kara faked a pout. “What about my lips? Don’t they get a turn?”

The flare of Lena’s pupils as she searched for a reply was all the answer Kara needed to get her lips on Lena’s neck and working down.

“Oh, my god,” Lena sighed. “You have no idea how much I want to continue this. But I’ve got to get back upstairs.”

“Two minutes,” Kara said, kissing her way down to Lena’s shoulder. “Just two minutes. Let me make you come with my mouth so you don’t go back to the party all twitchy.”

Lena grew still. “You did not just say that.”

The already firm nipple under Kara’s hand tightened up even more as fresh heat found its way onto her thigh.

Lena liked dirty talk? Kara could totally work with that.

“I did,” Kara said before dragging her tongue along the length Lena’s shoulder. Then she kissed the top of Lena’s arm and nibbled her way back across her collarbone. “You should know that I kind of have a thing for your neck, and I definitely have a thing for your collarbones.” She kept moving in. “I know your dress puts both on display, so I’ll be nice for now. But know that in the near future, I will definitely be biting you” —she clamped down lightly on the spot not far from the crook of Lena’s neck— “here.”

When Lena answered with a moan and an arch, Kara knew she’d won. Lena was going down … or rather, Kara was. But it was all the same in the end.

Part of Kara kept reminding her that she’d never done this before and she should be apologizing for that, but the rest of her was kissing its way down to the swell of Lena’s breast and up to its peak. Then she unleashed her tongue on one of the nipples and her hand on the other.

Lena squirmed beautifully—her nipples clearly sensitive, which worked out perfectly for Kara. They didn’t have time for her to spend time there just then, but there was always after the party. Lena’s hips were already growing restless, each surge renewing the wet spot on Kara’s leg.

And Kara, who thought she was out for the count, felt her own body waking up again in response.

This was so hot. How had she not known it would be like this?

Well, she hadn’t wanted to know. She could admit that now that there was no going back.

“You have no idea how many times I tried to guess what color your nipples were,” she said between laves. “They say they match lips, but I’ve never seen you without lipstick … not until I kissed it all off of you.”

She sucked the nipple into her mouth before pulling away and releasing it with a pop. She looked at it, then back up to Lena.

“The myth checks out.”

Man, did the tortured-with-pleasure look good on Lena—those formidable eyes dazed, those perfect lips parted yet speechless.

Fuck, yes.

Kara could gaze at that face forever. But they were on a clock, so she dipped back down to kiss her way down the underside of Lena’s breast. She meant to keep going—down, down, down—but stopped when her lips met the pounding of Lena’s heart on the other side of her ribs.

Lena had sucked a solid bruise into her neck and now Kara wanted to return the favor—right where breast met rib met a racing heart. She didn’t ask for permission. She just went for it, loving how Lena’s hands reached for her as she worked, her hips growing more greedy all the while.

It was instinct more than planning that had Kara’s left hand sliding down to see what it could do to help, and she felt the fires burst to life between her own legs at what she found.

So soft. Impossibly soft. Like … if silk was a Slip-and-Slide.

Kara had felt herself more times than she could count, but somehow this was different. When she touched herself, she paid more attention to her reactions than what she physically felt. With Lena, she just felt one side of the contact.

Kara’s hand explored while her mouth continued to suck in its mark. She found Lena’s clit first, testing it with a few strokes for sensitivity.

Super responsive.

That was good, considering Kara wasn’t exactly a connoisseur at what she was going to try next—her thumb pressing into Lena’s clit as she sunk a finger in. When it went in with ease, she added a second, which got a delicious moan out of Lena as her fingers tangled into Kara’s hair.

“Kara,” she panted, her hips already pushing the pace.

She said nothing else, just her name, and suddenly Kara was wet all over again, too. Apparently, she had a bit of a begging kink.

Who knew?

She pulled away from her hickey, looking up at Lena. “Say it again.”

“Kara,” she sighed, riding hard. “I’m so close.”

Kara smiled up at her. “Then you’d better get on my face because that’s what I promised.”

When she removed her hand, Lena actually cried out in protest. Kara then kicked the wedge off the bed, down to the floor with the harness, and rolled onto her back. “I think it’s time I met your pussy face-to-face, Ms. Luthor.”

A kink for a kink. Kara could talk dirty all day long if it got Lena begging.

Game on.

When Lena’s own hand dropped between her legs to release some pressure, Kara swatted it away.

“None of that,” she chided. “Hop on and let me do it.”

In a flash, Lena was straddling her, but not her face. Her torso. “Face sitting? That’s kind of jumping in on the deep end.”

“That’s how everything else is with you,” Kara replied, not mentioning how Lena couldn’t help but rock into her even as she tried to pretend she was in control. “I mean, I’m going to be walking funny tomorrow thanks to a bull horn, so I’m feeling brave enough to try a facial.” She glanced over toward the bathroom. “You said you’ve got makeup in the bathroom, right?”

“Oh. My. God.”

She’d take that as a yes. “Clock’s ticking, Luthor.” There was something fun about using her last name just then … the taunt of it triggered her competitive instinct. “The sooner you get on my mouth, the sooner you can get back to your precious party.”

“Ohmygod.”

Yep. Lena Luthor was officially weak for dirty talk.

Weren’t they just a match made in weird heaven?

Kara scooted up the mattress, closer to the headboard, leaving Lena straddling her knees. “Tick-tock, Luthor. Set your timer for two minutes, because I’m certain you’re not going to last that long.”

Did Kara have any idea what she was talking about? No. She was just going by gut at this point. And so what if she was wrong? They both still got what they wanted, and Lena definitely couldn’t return to the party this worked up.

So what was two more minutes?

Kara was not ready for the cat crawl Lena did up her body, or the almost-kiss Lena teased her with before reaching up for the headboard.

“Ready?” she asked, teasing Kara with her eyes.

Kara replied by sliding her middle finger back through the slip-and-slide and into Lena’s entrance as far as it could go—urging Lena to knee-walk the final distance up over her face. That’s when she got the first view of what she signed up for, followed quickly by her first taste.

She went for the folds first, her tongue looking for the nub that would get Lena bucking again. It was almost an afterthought to realize that she was totally cool with the flavor on her tongue. She’d had crackers that tasted worse and still eaten the whole box.

And tasting Lena was so much better.

Kara dragged the flat of her tongue across Lena’s clit, feeling like maybe she got things right when Lena started writhing above her. Both Lena’s hands gripped the headboard hard as she grit her teeth and pressed her face into the backs of her hands. Kara could barely see at all past Lena’s breasts and the scene disappeared entirely when Kara went in for more.

Nothing like trial-and-error when it came to unlocking the female orgasm. But Kara’s timidity was sidelined by years of paying attention to how bodies responded to her touch. She might not know exactly what she was doing, but she’d been training for this day.

Lesson 1: Kara needed both hands to hold Lena’s ass in place. The woman was a rough rider, which was how Kara’s tongue accidentally slid up inside her entrance for the first time.

The scream that tore out of Lena’s throat at the move had Kara saying adios to her makeup as she gripped the ass in her hands tighter and plunged in as far as she could on purpose this time.

Lesson 2: Hearing Lena gasp and scream with nothing but air between Kara’s own legs wasn’t her favorite position.

Oh, well.

What mattered now was how monosyllabic Lena was growing as her hips pumped.

Fuck, yes.

Lesson 3: Once Lena sensed a path to orgasm, she smoothed out and rode for the finish line like a racehorse. It was sloppy as fuck on Kara’s side, and all the hotter for it. Little Miss Ice-Cold CEO had left the building, and in her place was a woman who could barely hold on to an industrial-strength headboard.

So hot.

Sensing the finish line, Kara replaced her tongue with two fingers and returned her tongue to Lena’s clit. And that was the beginning of the end.

“There,” Lena begged, riding the fingers hard. “Just like that. Stay there. Stay there. Stay—fuck!”

Kara hooked her fingers in, finding the spongy in the slick as she sucked Lena’s clit into her mouth. Suddenly, soft walls clamped in on her fingers like a vice and Kara was rewarded with a view of Lena arching back like she’d be struck by lightning. She got a perfect view of Lena’s breasts from the bottom—one with a bruise sucked underneath.

Her fingers got a brief reprieve before Lena’s inner walls clamped down again and again. Kara’s own walls screamed out to join them, getting Kara to release Lena’s ass with her other hand and plunge it between her legs to join her.

Molten heat dripped down the hand still inside Lena—something Kara totally wasn’t prepared for and wasn’t sure what to do with since her mouth was still busy coaxing Lena down and her other hand was busy trying to join Lena on the other side of bliss.

Two strokes later, the world shattered and Kara threw her head back, joining Lena as she crossed the finish line.

Fuck, she’d come fast. They both had … both times.

And both times, Kara had been on her back.

That was new.

Apparently, Lena Luthor was the exception to a whole bunch of rules for her, including her obsession with cleanliness. Because she was messy as fuck at the moment and was pretty sure it was the hottest moment of her life.

It took a moment for her vision to clear. When it did, she saw Lena hanging onto the headboard like a buoy keeping her from sinking into a sea. Fingers grasping at the top curve of its edge, and her cheek pressed into the hardwood as she fought for breath.

Wrong.

A headboard was not what Lena should be holding onto as she came back to earth.

“C’mere,” Kara said, hands sliding up Lena’s body and gently urging her to follow gravity. “Get down here. Let me hold you.”

Lena didn’t balk at all this time. She all but dripped down the headboard, crawling back over Kara and only pausing to wipe her off with the sheets before crashing down into what seemed to be her favorite spot—her mouth pressed to the hickey Kara could already feel setting in.

It felt perfect.

For what had to be a full minute, they held on and breathed.

“You never fail to surprise me, Kara Danvers,” Lena said against her neck.

That got a smile out of Kara. “You mean, you didn’t have all this planned when you brought me down here?”

Breath from Lena’s soft laugh brushed across Kara’s neck. “Not by a long shot. I thought you would run for the door.”

“You certainly gave me reasons to,” Kara replied.

Silence. Then, “Yeah.”

“We’re going to have to talk about that. Later.”

“Yeah.”

Kara replayed the last twenty-ish minutes in her head. “I mean, a bull horn, Lena? Did you really think it would be that easy to chase me off?”

Jade eyes looked up at her, totally guileless. “Kind of?”

“Please,” Kara said, tracing the outline of Lena’s bottom lip with her finger. “My crazy runs so much deeper than that.”

Lena’s smile was a little bit wicked. “I think I just got a sneak peek.”

Kara held her gaze. “If you’re talking about later tonight, then yes, you did. This is definitely to be continued. Are you going to tell the bartender to fuck off, or do you want me to do it?”

Lena laughed, no wickedness this time. She just looked happy. “I’ll tell her.”

Kara nodded. “Okay. We both will. It’s settled.”

That got both eyebrows shooting up. “Kara Danvers? Possessive?”

“With you? Yes,” she said without hesitation. “Get used to it.”

Soft lips pressed into Kara’s neck. “I already am.”

Dear heavens, one little peck and Kara was already back in the mood. She had to get space between them.

“Take the shower and get ready first,” Kara said before returning a kiss in the only spot she could reach, Lena’s forehead. “I’ll be right behind you—and don’t even suggest going in together. Neither of us has the time to re-do our hair if it gets wet.”

Wicked eyes gazed up at her. “I like it when you’re bossy.”

“And I really like you naked,” Kara replied. “So you’d better get out of here before I start touching again.”

Lena’s body left in a flash and Kara had to grip the sheets to keep from reaching out and pulling her back. When Lena turned and walked to the bathroom, she revealed a back and ass covered in scratches.

Holy shit … Kara had done that? She’d scratched up that perfect skin without even realizing it?

When? How?

Those questions disappeared when her eyes dropped down to a clear spot on Lena’s right ass cheek and she promised herself to leave a bite mark there before the night was over.

Then she relaxed back into the sheets and grinned like a fool that it was actually going to happen.


	58. Chapter 58

The world seemed brighter when Lena returned to the main floor.

Literally.

The sun beamed brightly, the food smelled better, and everything seemed possible.

If her guests had missed her, it didn’t show. Drinks and food abounded, as did laughter and high-volume conversation. Her staff was on top of everything, her escorts were earning their rates, and her guests had friends in each other. If not, they were engaged with a display.

Things were going well. Really well. And Lena hadn’t had to micromanage a damn thing. She’d disappeared on everyone for just over thirty minutes and it was like she’d never left.

One of the many perks of having a top-notch team.

When Jack approached her, Lena smiled. She couldn’t help it.

“Someone’s in a better mood,” he said, stepping up next to her.

Lena nodded, certain she looked a bit smug. “Someone is.”

He looked her up and down. “You changed your hair in your _meeting_.”

“I did,” Lena replied just as easily. Her up-do had been demolished by Kara. She’d gone with leaving it down to avoid spending forever resetting it.

Jack tipped back on his heels, taking a look at the back of her dress. “And you have a few red marks peeking out in the back that weren’t there before.”

“I do.” She sent him a sidelong look. Another reason to wear her hair down. Her skin had always been quick to show marks, but they faded quickly, too. In an hour, no one would notice and she could just position her back to walls until then.

“The blonde?” Jack guessed “The one who was talking too loud and laughing too much before she disappeared with you?”

Lena arched a brow at the description but didn’t correct it. “Yes.”

He took a sip of his drink. “Anything to know there?”

“She’s mine,” Lena said firmly.

He tilted his head in interest. “Really? That’s your type?”

“My kryptonite,” she corrected.

“Noted.” He pointed his chin to their right. “C’mon. I have someone to introduce you to.”

“Who?”

“Jarom White. He’s in the CBD market.”

Interesting.

Lena flagged a server to bring her a drink. “Lead the way.”

By the time they walked up, Jarom White had been teed up and ready for a hole-in-one. His face brightened as she approached and his hand went out and it was almost too easy from there.

When it came to wingmanning, Jack kicked ass. Someday she was seriously going to have to pay him back for all this. Without him, her ass would be in a corner with her brother taunting her that she was nothing without him.

And she had golf to thank for it all. The ridiculous sport had brought the two most important people into her life. Kara and Jack.

Funny how that worked.

Lena fell into the rhythm of mingling, her eyes darting over to the steps whenever possible to see if Kara had rejoined the party yet.

Ten minutes passed, during which Jarom White introduced her to one of the many politicians looking to legalize cannabis.

He, of course, wanted a donation.

Twenty minutes passed, and she’d found her way back to Walker—an avid golfer. He seemed very interested when she mentioned her plans to get into the market. He knew a guy looking for a partner.

At the thirty-minute mark, Lena was looking at images on Walker’s phone, still steeped in golf.

Lena’s glances to the stairs grew more frequent as doubt crept in.

Was Kara okay? Was she freaking out? Was she regretting what happened between them?

What if she was?

By the time forty minutes passed, Lena was quietly panicking as she discussed the mechanics of hovercrafts with a large group.

Forty-five minutes.

That was plenty of time to shower, dress, and reapply some makeup.

Had Kara fallen asleep? Was she okay? Did she decide to sit the rest of the party out? Did her dress really not cover the hickey Lena had given her?

Because that mark was going to be black by morning and it was probably edging to purple now. And the best part of it had been how much Kara had wanted it … in the moment.

But did she regret it now? Did she regret anything else?

Did she regret _everything_ else?

Lena felt like puking at the thought. She was nearly ready to excuse herself to go check to see what was keeping her when the blonde appeared at the top of the steps—her eyes searching the crowd.

Then their eyes locked.

“Excuse me one moment,” Lena said to the group. “I’ll be right back.”

When they nodded her off, Lena beelined it to Kara, desperate to be within touching distance of her.

Smile smug, as if she sensed the desperation, Kara all but eye-fucked Lena as she approached.

Kara didn’t regret having sex. That was good.

That was life-savingly good.

And, fuck, if that dress still wasn’t crazy hot. All Lena wanted to do was take it off again. That would have to wait. But if Kara couldn’t be naked, the dress was a breathtaking second choice.

“You look stunning,” Lena said when they were finally across from each other.

“I’m wearing your underwear,” Kara replied and Lena nearly choked. The blonde smiled. “Mine were too wet to put back on.”

Lena cleared her throat and took a sip of her drink. “I see.”

Kara held up a piece of paper that had been folded down as small as it could go. “Sorry I took so long. I decided to write a letter. It was meant to be to my dad, but I think this first draft is more for you.”

She reached forward, tucking the paper into Lena’s cleavage. The simple gesture should not have left Lena's nerves tingling, but it did.

“I’m giving it to you now because I definitely won’t later," Kara confessed. "I think there’s some stuff in there you should know when it comes to why I’ve been fighting us.”

_Us._

Lena almost whimpered at the term but tried not to let it show. “I look forward to reading it later.”

“Fair warning,” Kara said. “I’m feeling brave now, but I might chicken out and try to steal that back later.”

Lena grinned, realizing that Kara didn’t yet know how thoroughly she would lose such a fight. It was nice to still have a secret or two up her sleeves. “Good luck with that. It’s mine now.”

They both looked at each other’s lips at the same time. Lena was about to lean in when Kara shook her head.

“No. If I kiss you now, I’m going to kiss you dirty,” she confessed. “And I don’t think that’s the vibe you’re going for.”

It wasn’t. Dammit.

“Lena?”

Lena didn’t realize she’d been holding her breath until she inhaled at the sound of her name. “Yeah?”

“I plan on fucking you until the sun comes up, and that’s going to be way more fun if you kick ass at this party. I don’t want to be a distraction. Should I leave?”

Lena’s brain understood the logic of such a suggestion but her heart was having none of it. “No. I want you with me. As my date, if you’re up for it.”

“Fuck, yeah,” Kara said with a smile, her hand reaching out to take Lena’s into hers. “I’m pretty sure watching you slay in a room full of men is my kink. I’m all in.”

Lena smiled, letting the invitation in Kara’s declaration sizzle between them with all its unspoken possibilities.

God, Lena loved this woman. It was way too soon to say as much out loud, and definitely the wrong place. But it was the truth.

Kara tangled their fingers together before leaning in to steal a quick kiss. “Lead the way, beautiful. Let’s go kick a little ass.”

And when Kara purred requests in that way only she could, there was only one thing Lena could do: fulfill them. Immediately.

So she led the way to the first person she wanted to introduce Kara to.


	59. Chapter 59

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And here it is. The final chapter. The epilogue.
> 
> Thank you to all of you who made it this far and took this little journey with me. It's been a ride. Hope you loved it!

As the hours passed from evening to night, something felt right about having guests linger when they just as easily could have been gone.

The competing pockets of conversation, punctuated with the occasional full-bodied laugh brought the house to life in a way Lena had only ever heard through closed doors when she was a child.

She heard it all now from a security station on the second floor that overlooked the main ballroom. Down below, the guests saw a colorful wall tapestry, but looking from the other side revealed a transparent screen that staff and security could use to observe the needs of the room. And what Lena saw now was the easy banter of friends in no particular hurry to end the night when they had every excuse to prolong it.

“Everything’s clockwork, Ms. Luthor,” her head of security said from over her shoulder. “The five incidents that breach your rules of conduct have been addressed by the book. I’ll have written reports to you by morning.”

“Thank you, Khan,” Lena said before her eyes naturally drifted to where Kara was being chummy with Jack. 

The two of them had been fast friends. Not surprising. Even still, Lena had found herself fighting bouts of jealousy throughout the night at how easily they laughed and bantered with each other.

After all, Kara preferred men and Jack was quite an excellent specimen.

Yet every time a jealous thought started to take hold, Kara seemed to pick up on it and found a way to blast the fears out of Lena’s mind like dynamite in a barrel.

One look … one touch … one casual press of Kara's body into Lena’s—that was _anything_ but casual—resurrected snapshots of memories of exactly how much had changed between them a few hours ago. 

Before today, Lena had only ever dealt with the Kara who bobbed and weaved her way out of acknowledging any connection between them. She’d caught Kara stealing glances, yes, but Lena had never seen those blue eyes undress her like they owned her before ... or heard her usually peppy voice darken and confess what her tongue wanted to do in tones only Lena could hear.

More than once, Lena had forgotten her own name.

More than twice, she had forgotten how to breathe.

And, for the first time in her life, she’d lost total control and succumbed to the risk of letting Kara have her way with her under the dinner table as Lena made polite conversation with other guests.

Had she almost passed out sitting down from keeping her breathing even as her heart rate went off the charts? Yes. Yes, she had.

But she’d do it again. In a heartbeat.

In fact, she was a little mad she wasn’t doing it that very moment. The fact that Kara was a flight of stairs away and joking around with the most eligible bachelors on the planet did not sit right at all.

Yet the perfectionist in Lena needed to make the rounds just in case there was an update that should be on her radar.

But everything was good here. And everywhere else, it seemed. 

She should get back to Kara. It was clear her lover was having fun with Jack—possibly even pulling gossip out of the man—but the increasingly frequent glances Kara gave to the door Lena had disappeared through when she’d excused herself made Lena want to rush back to her side, slide her hand into Kara’s, and not let go for the rest of the night.

Or ever, really.

Lena was so fucking whipped—a fact that would have alarmed her if it didn’t feel like the only thing in her life that might be right.

Next to her, Naomi cleared her throat. “Just got word from the kitchen. Melly would like your input on a matter.”

Lena nodded, forcing her eyes from Kara and over to her head of security. “Great work. I’ll try to leave you alone for the rest of the night.”

Khan smiled. “Check in as you need. There’s no better place to get a read on the room and it’s your party. But we’ve got our part handled. I’ll contact you through Naomi if any exceptions arise.”

“Thank you, Khan,” she said before turning Naomi’s direction and starting for the kitchen.

Her feet sobbed with each step—the balls of her feet objecting to the extra inch of her heels. To take them off for two minutes, or not to take them off? That was the question.

Yes, it would be heaven to out of them but, if she took them off, would she ever get them back on again? Could she? Forget the pain, her feet _had_ to be swollen.

Keeping her thoughts to herself, she walked with Naomi down the private hallway that led to the service stairs to the kitchen.

“What does Melly want to talk about?” she asked.

“Apparently, we are starting to run out of certain food items,” Naomi replied. “She’s looking for an executive decision on how to proceed.”

“What time is it?”

“11:11,” Naomi replied, keeping pace in heels just as high. And, unlike Lena, she’d been wearing hers all day.

“And she’s looking to start a new menu?”

“It’s on her option list,” Naomi replied as they started down the stairs and kitchen noises were joined with Melly barking at someone about checking temperatures. “You know how chefs are. Reputation is everything. She can’t let it look like she didn’t cross the finish line on a party of this scale.”

“True,” Lena agreed as she thought back to the scene she’d just viewed from the security room. People were lounging. Talking. No one was eating.

It was time to phase food out. Period.

The kitchen smelled of fine cheese and pastry, almost causing Lena to change her mind. Whatever Melly was throwing together in her panic was bound to be amazing, but it didn’t change the fact that there was a better move to play in that moment.

The room couldn’t have come to attention more quickly if Lena had been a general stepping into soldiers’ barracks. One moment, everyone was hard at work and the next they were standing straight and regarding Lena with what seemed to be a mix of relief and trepidation of what might be asked of them next.

Lena offered them a smile. “First off, my compliments on everything that has left this kitchen so far tonight. The menu has been second-to-none.”

That earned her a few smiles in return along with a few raised chins.

“Second, whatever you’re baking now smells fantastic but I’m going to ask that it not leave this kitchen.” That got an indignant stutter out of Melly so Lena focused on her as she finished. “Everyone’s had a great evening with world-class food and it’s now time to close out the evening with my signature labels as a final impression.”

Melly’s hackles visibly dropped as she caught the direction of Lena’s thinking, so Lena again addressed the staff as a whole.

“I want everything that is not grown on my land or produced in my distilleries pulled from the floor. I want a coffee bar—Turkish included, and prepared in view. I want an olive bar. I want servers with tumbler glasses of my alcohol moving through each room. If it’s an offering that can’t be easily held, sipped, or consumed in one bite while making casual conversation, I want it off tables in the next ten minutes and replaced with whatever meets Melly’s approval under these parameters. Understood?”

The room seemed to breathe a collective sigh of relief at the directive.

“Understood, Ms. Luthor,” Melly said. “I know exactly what I want to do.”

“Good. I’ll leave you to it then.”

And just like that, it was like Lena disappeared as Melly called her staff into a circle and began to dole out marching orders.

Lena turned to Naomi. “I think our work here is done.”

Naomi smiled. “I think so.”

Lena glanced down at the other woman’s heels. “On a scale of 1 to 10, how much do your feet hurt?”

“800,” Naomi said without hesitation. “But I’ll make it.”

Lena shook her head. “No. You deserve a break. Go put your feet up. Give them some ice and check back in with me in thirty minutes.”

Naomi shook her head. “I should help the staff change out the—”

“That’s their job,” Lena interrupted. “Not yours. Go rest. You have thirty minutes.”

Naomi visibly hesitated, even though Lena could see her will cracking around the edges. If her feet hurt even half as much as Lena’s, she had to be desperate for a break.

“Thirty minutes,” Lena repeated. “Don’t waste them.”

There was a beat of hesitation before Naomi leaned into the wall and reached down to remove one shoe then the other. The sigh of relief that left her next sent shivers of jealousy up Lena’s spine but she resisted the urge to do the same. She couldn’t. Not yet.

“Thank you,” Naomi said, hobbling a little as she headed back up the stairs.

Lena took a different exit, turning to the service hallway that bypassed the dining hall and led straight to the ballroom. It was a petty move to sneak past the public spaces, but Lena had no desire to have polite conversation keep her away from Kara for even a minute longer than necessary.

So secret passageway it was.

Half-way down the secluded hall, Lena paused in front of a service mirror for a quick check on her appearance. Hair and makeup were okay, but could maybe use a touch-up. Her dress was still going strong but she gave it a few strategic adjustments anyway, resulting in a light scratching between her breasts.

For half a second the sensation confused her. Then she remembered Kara’s note. 

She’d forgotten about it—or rather, she’d tried to forget about it since there hadn’t been a moment of privacy since Kara had handed it to her.

But she was alone now … although she should probably wait and read it later. Kara was waiting for her. The party was still going. And what if it said something that threw her mood off or distracted her?

Lena still had a party to finish out and she definitely didn’t need any unnecessary distractions.

As her mind debated, Lena’s hands reached into her cleavage and pulled out a paper folded into itself six times. Once unfolded, Lena saw that more than half the words on each side had been scribbled out, leaving blacked-out thoughts to frame those that had made the cut.

Heart pounding for reasons she didn’t want to examine too closely, Lena started at the beginning of the letter—reading all the parts Kara hadn’t blacked out while telling herself she’d decipher the rest when she had more time. 

_Dear Dad, _it read.

_I’m writing to tell you that I’m in love. _

Lena’s mouth fell open, not believing her eyes even as she read the line again and again. Finally, she cleared her throat—failing to remove the lump that was forming there—and read on.

_Truth be told, I didn’t even know love could feel like this. But now that I know, there is no going back. Lena is amazing and, so long as she’ll have me, I plan to be hers._

_I know you won’t understand this. You might even think Lena’s tricked me somehow and that I need saving. But I don’t need saving. Not from Lena. _

_The good news? It’s still a definite possibility you and Mom will have biological grandkids._

_The bad news? You won the gay-kid lottery! You’re two-for-two! Congratulations!_

_I know, I know. That’s not funny. Not to you. And I shouldn’t joke about your crushed expectations. I also know some people in your congregation are going to judge you for this, as if who I love reflects some failing as a parent on your part. _

_I’m sorry for that. _

_Even though you and I have never really gotten along, you and Mom are amazing parents and I owe you both the world. _

_But I don’t owe you my happiness._

_I’m sorry if me falling in love with a woman hurts you, but I can’t deny this anymore. I can’t walk away. _

_So here we are._

_I’m in love Lena Luthor. She’s amazing. Sometimes I look at her and can’t even breathe. I don’t know how she exists, but she does._

_And I’m hers._

_I’m sorry that’s not what you planned, but I wouldn’t trade Lena for the world. Even if she asked me to._

_So … yeah. _

_It’s safe to say that things are pretty serious on my end, and I thought you should know that won’t be bringing any boys home in the future._

_Let’s talk more in person when we get a chance._

_Love you._

_Your daughter,_

_Kara_

Lena hadn’t realized she’d been holding her breath until she reached the signature and it all came out in a gush. A tear left Lena’s eye unchecked, and she quickly swiped it away with her finger. Her heart seemed to wobble a bit as it hammered its wordless reply in her chest as another tear snuck past her defenses.

“Fuck,” she cursed, checking her reflection in the mirror to make sure she didn’t mess up her makeup as she cleared it before tilting her head back to help the remaining tears drain.

Lena didn’t know what she expected the letter to say, but … not this. Nothing even close to this. Yes, she knew that Kara had made the decision to sleep with her long before arriving tonight. That much had been revealed when they’d first kissed downstairs earlier. Out of the gate, Kara had kissed like someone ready to fuck.

But this? _This_ was what had brought Kara to the party tonight?

Lena definitely should have saved the letter until after the party because the only thing she cared about in that moment was feeling Kara’s lips against hers.

Because, damn, the woman could kiss. And while the memories of her lips were exquisitely vivid, Lena suddenly needed the real thing. A lot. Along with everything it led to. Suddenly, she needed to gaze into those azure eyes and kiss those playful lips like she needed her next breath.

A small, curious part of Lena urged her to re-read the note with all the crossed-out parts, but she didn’t want to risk more tears or bigger feels, so she folded the paper back up and walked full-speed to the ballroom. 

The ache in her feet all but muted as she exited the quiet of the service hall and moved into the bustle of the main room. And the fact that Kara spotted her before Lena looked her way only double-timed the whipped pitterpat in Lena’s chest.

Every gaze that didn’t belong to Kara Danvers received a polite-yet-dismissive acknowledgment from Lena as she beelined it to the woman who watched her every step with seductive admiration.

Goddamn, Kara Danvers was going to be the end of her. It shouldn’t be legal to look at someone like that in public.

“Hey,” Kara said when Lena was still a few steps away. The greeting hit Lena like a chill that was anything but cold—a sensation that only intensified when Kara’s tongue darted out to wet her lips as she gave Lena an unsubtle once-over.

Lena needed to get Kara somewhere private. Immediately.

Someone—not Kara—cleared their throat. Then Jack spoke. “Well, looks like I need a refresh on my drink. Can I get you ladies anything?”

Lena grabbed the half-empty glass from Kara’s hand and held it out to him. “No. We’re good.”

She watched Kara’s eyes narrow competitively at having Lena speak for her, but Jack saved Lena the torture of any future banter by succinctly replying, “Right,” before snagging the glass out of her hand and making himself scarce.

Good man.

Lena took another step forward, overtly occupying Kara’s personal space as she spoke in a volume only Kara could hear. “Did you know that there are actually two labyrinths on this property?”

Blue eyes went wide with surprise. “No way. Where?”

Lena smiled, letting her eyes trace the trail her lips longed to kiss down Kara’s jaw and neck while loving that Kara didn’t know exactly how to respond to the attention. 

“As above, so below,” Lena replied softly. “The second labyrinth weaves through the aquariums directly below the garden labyrinth, providing a view not only of the freshwater aquatic life, but of the root systems of the hedges above.”

Kara’s perfect lips parted in wonder. “And you’re only telling me this now?”

“It’s top secret,” Lena said with an unrepentant grin. “I shouldn’t be telling at all. It is my dad’s most prized sanctuary.”

Recovering from her initial surprise, Kara regained a bit of her poker face and asked, “Then why are you telling me now?”

Lena returned the poker face. “Because it’s one of eight areas on this property that is not under surveillance. And I want to fuck you blind there.” She leaned until her lips were a breath away from Kara’s ear before adding. “Now.”

Kara’s next breath came out like a shiver and Lena couldn’t fight the need to give the blonde’s earlobe a nip before stepping back and sliding her hand into Kara’s to urge her forward.

“Follow me,” Lena whispered, giving Kara’s hand an encouraging squeeze and nearly forgetting her own name when she watched Kara’s bravado melt into shocked anticipation.

“Anywhere,” she replied, so softly Lena almost missed it. It took every bit of control she’d ever cultivated in her life to turn away from Kara as she led them out of the room.

Somewhere, in the back of Lena’s mind, warning bells screamed for her to reassess and stop ... to be professional ... to acknowledge how many of her guests were noticing her interaction with Kara and maybe counting it as a weakness.

Tonight was pivotal to her businesses, and she’d already disappeared once to have sex and allowed herself to be finger fucked under the cover of a table.

Warning bells screamed that she needed to rein herself in. To buckle down. To maintain her persona. To remember that this night did not come with a _Re-do_ button.

But the feel of Kara’s fingers threading into hers as she kept pace banished all thoughts that didn’t involve taking that damn blue dress back off and worshipping Kara’s perfect body until her lips only knew one name.

Lena's.

No one said Lena’s name like Kara. And Lena would make sure Kara screamed it before she came this time. 

Repeatedly.

And with that thought, Lena bid her warning bells goodbye, while acknowledging they were right.

This night did not come with a _Re-do _button, which meant Lena had to honestly ask herself what she wanted to remember when she looked back on this near-flawless night.

And she definitely wanted to remember sneaking off into the private aquariums and going down on Kara until the woman prayed in her name.

In truth, her guests would be distracted by the changeover in food and would lean into the chance to judge Lena's signature labels without her hovering. Strategically speaking, this was a perfect time to disappear for what would appear to be a quick touch up of hair and makeup. 

They'd just take the long way there.

Kara’s favorite two places on the property had always been the aquariums and the labyrinth, which meant Lena had been careful to never join her in either space for longer than civility required. It was just too easy to fall in love with Kara when she was lit up with wonder and joy. It was too easy to wonder just how lost the two of them could get in a labyrinth ... or imagine how long two minutes might last when it was Kara keeping time.

Well, the time for wondering was over. It was time to seduce the legs out from under Kara—properly, this time—and find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sure I'll be writing more and I'm thinking about doing a podcast. If that interests you, follow me on Twitter @TheSmuttyBard for updates and posts.
> 
> Also, know that I love reading thoughts and comments so thank you to all you who share. I love seeing what's picked up from what I try to put down. It's part of the fun and helps me improve.
> 
> That's it for this story. Thanks for reading and I'll catch you in the next tale 😘


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